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1 October 2018 Effects of Pollination by the Indo-Malaya Stingless Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on the Quality of Greenhouse-Produced Rockmelon
Wahizatul Afzan Azmi, W. Z. Wan Sembok, N. Yusuf, M. F. Mohd. Hatta, A. F. Salleh, M. A. H. Hamzah, S. N. Ramli
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Abstract

Rockmelon (Cucumis melo Linnaeus (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae)) is a novel commercialized fruit in Malaysia and has great potential to become an important horticultural crop for the international market. In this study, we investigated the effects of pollination by the Indo-Malaya stingless bee Heterotrigona itama Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on measures of yield and quality of rockmelon cultivated in the greenhouse, compared with hand cross-pollination and self-pollination. Results showed that rockmelon produced from plants pollinated by stingless bees and hand cross-pollination had higher fruit set, were heavier and larger, and contained higher numbers of seed per fruit compared with those produced by self-pollination. Pollination by stingless bees produced fruit with greater sweetness than either hand cross-pollination or self-pollination. This study demonstrated that stingless bee pollination produced rockmelon fruit of similar quality, but better yields compared to the other pollination treatments. We showed that stingless bees should be considered as an alternative, effective pollinator for the improved production of high quality rockmelon in commercial greenhouse cultivation.

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Wahizatul Afzan Azmi, W. Z. Wan Sembok, N. Yusuf, M. F. Mohd. Hatta, A. F. Salleh, M. A. H. Hamzah, and S. N. Ramli "Effects of Pollination by the Indo-Malaya Stingless Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on the Quality of Greenhouse-Produced Rockmelon," Journal of Economic Entomology 112(1), 20-24, (1 October 2018). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toy290
Received: 26 March 2018; Accepted: 14 June 2018; Published: 1 October 2018
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KEYWORDS
greenhouse
Heterotrigona itama
pollination
rockmelon
stingless bee
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