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1 June 2015 Stingless Bees as Alternative Pollinators of Canola
Sidia Witter, Patrícia Nunes-Silva, Bruno B. Lisboa, Flavia P. Tirelli, Aroni Sattler, Suzane Both Hilgert-Moreira, Betina Blochtein
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Abstract

Alternative pollinators can ensure pollination services if the availability of the managed or most common pollinator is compromised. In this study, the behavior and pollination efficiency of Apis mellifera L. and two species of stingless bees, Plebeia emerina Friese and Tetragonisca fiebrigi Schwarz, were evaluated and compared in flowers of Brassica napus L. ‘Hyola 61’. A. mellifera was an efficient pollinator when collecting nectar because it effectively touched the reproductive organs of the flower. In contrast, stingless bees were efficient pollinators only when collecting pollen. The number of pollen grains deposited on the stigma after a single visit by worker bees of the three species was greater than the number of grains resulting from pollination without the bee visits. On average, the three species deposited enough pollen grains to fertilize all of the flower ovules. A. mellifera and P. emerina had similar pollination efficiency because no significant differences were observed in the characteristics of the siliques produced. Although T. fiebrigi is also an effective pollinator, the seed mass produced by their pollination was lower. Native bees promoted similar rates of fruit set compared with A. mellifera. Thus, P. emerina has potential to be used for pollination in canola crops.

© The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
Sidia Witter, Patrícia Nunes-Silva, Bruno B. Lisboa, Flavia P. Tirelli, Aroni Sattler, Suzane Both Hilgert-Moreira, and Betina Blochtein "Stingless Bees as Alternative Pollinators of Canola," Journal of Economic Entomology 108(3), 880-886, (1 June 2015). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/tov096
Received: 13 January 2014; Accepted: 2 April 2015; Published: 1 June 2015
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KEYWORDS
Apis mellifera
Brassica napus
Plebeia emerina
pollination
Tetragonisca fiebrigi
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