Observations on the Foraging Behaviors of Commercial Bumble Bee Colonies in Prunus avium Orchards

Çiğdem Özenirler

Makale detayları

Observations on the Foraging Behaviors of Commercial Bumble Bee Colonies in Prunus avium Orchards

Yazarlar:

Çiğdem Özenirler

Yayıncı:

Afyon Kocatepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Yapısal Biyoloji | Entomoloji

Dergi:

Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen Ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi Vol.23 Issue 4, pp.837-842

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

8/2023

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001297548

pISSN:

2149-3367

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 Prunus avium blooming period starts in early spring. The uncertain climatic conditions in this period can cause mis-pollination syndromes. It could be directly because of the frozen days or non-forgeable conditions for the possible pollinators or indirectly the poor quality of surrounding habitat and lack of pollinators. When wild pollinators are scarce owing to one of these reasons, introduction of commercial pollinators can be a solution to ensure pollination. Within this context, commercial bombus colonies were chosen as insurance for the pollination of sweet cherries. In the blooming period of Prunus avium, for two years-with totally 120 transect observations, the daily foraging activities of these bumblebees were investigated in Sultandağı-Afyonkarahisar. Before the settlement of the hives in the field, trees were marked with different colored stripes every 10 meters which makes it possible to follow how far the bumblebees fly and forage in the field. Starting at 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 14:00, 16:00, and 18:00, six times a day, with transect observations, the number of the foragers on cherries was recorded. The average number of flowers they visit per minute was calculated. The plants blooming simultaneously with cherry trees in the trial area were determined. Pollen preferences of foragers were examined with their cobicular pollen loads. The actual foraging range was found as 10-40 meters away from the hives, the maximum activities were recorded before the noon. The average number of visited flowers per minute for bumblebees was  8 flowers. Taraxacum spp. and Lamium spp. pollen were found, but cherry preference was determined to be almost 90. It is still an uncommon agricultural practice to use commercial bumble bees in open fields, especially for the plants which have very early blooming periods in early spring, it is thought that they are very good manageable pollinator agents according to their foraging capacities.

 Prunus avium blooming period starts in early spring. The uncertain climatic conditions in this period can cause mis-pollination syndromes. It could be directly because of the frozen days or non-forgeable conditions for the possible pollinators or indirectly the poor quality of surrounding habitat and lack of pollinators. When wild pollinators are scarce owing to one of these reasons, introduction of commercial pollinators can be a solution to ensure pollination. Within this context, commercial bombus colonies were chosen as insurance for the pollination of sweet cherries. In the blooming period of Prunus avium, for two years-with totally 120 transect observations, the daily foraging activities of these bumblebees were investigated in Sultandağı-Afyonkarahisar. Before the settlement of the hives in the field, trees were marked with different colored stripes every 10 meters which makes it possible to follow how far the bumblebees fly and forage in the field. Starting at 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 14:00, 16:00, and 18:00, six times a day, with transect observations, the number of the foragers on cherries was recorded. The average number of flowers they visit per minute was calculated. The plants blooming simultaneously with cherry trees in the trial area were determined. Pollen preferences of foragers were examined with their cobicular pollen loads. The actual foraging range was found as 10-40 meters away from the hives, the maximum activities were recorded before the noon. The average number of visited flowers per minute for bumblebees was  8 flowers. Taraxacum spp. and Lamium spp. pollen were found, but cherry preference was determined to be almost 90. It is still an uncommon agricultural practice to use commercial bumble bees in open fields, especially for the plants which have very early blooming periods in early spring, it is thought that they are very good manageable pollinator agents according to their foraging capacities.

 Prunus avium blooming period starts in early spring. The uncertain climatic conditions in this period can cause mis-pollination syndromes. It could be directly because of the frozen days or non-forgeable conditions for the possible pollinators or indirectly the poor quality of surrounding habitat and lack of pollinators. When wild pollinators are scarce owing to one of these reasons, introduction of commercial pollinators can be a solution to ensure pollination. Within this context, commercial bombus colonies were chosen as insurance for the pollination of sweet cherries. In the blooming period of Prunus avium, for two years-with totally 120 transect observations, the daily foraging activities of these bumblebees were investigated in Sultandağı-Afyonkarahisar. Before the settlement of the hives in the field, trees were marked with different colored stripes every 10 meters which makes it possible to follow how far the bumblebees fly and forage in the field. Starting at 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 14:00, 16:00, and 18:00, six times a day, with transect observations, the number of the foragers on cherries was recorded. The average number of flowers they visit per minute was calculated. The plants blooming simultaneously with cherry trees in the trial area were determined. Pollen preferences of foragers were examined with their cobicular pollen loads. The actual foraging range was found as 10-40 meters away from the hives, the maximum activities were recorded before the noon. The average number of visited flowers per minute for bumblebees was  8 flowers. Taraxacum spp. and Lamium spp. pollen were found, but cherry preference was determined to be almost 90. It is still an uncommon agricultural practice to use commercial bumble bees in open fields, especially for the plants which have very early blooming periods in early spring, it is thought that they are very good manageable pollinator agents according to their foraging capacities.

 Prunus avium çiçeklenme dönemi erken ilkbaharda başlar. Bu dönemdeki belirsiz iklim koşulları, tozlaşma sendromlarına neden olabilir. Bunun nedeni doğrudan donlu günler veya olası tozlayıcılar için uygun olmayan koşullar veya dolaylı olarak çevredeki yaşam alanlarının kalitesizliği ve tozlayıcı eksikliği olabilir. Bu sebeplerden biri nedeniyle yabani tozlayıcıların az olduğu durumlarda, yönlendirilebilen ticari tozlayıcıların getirilmesi tozlaşmayı sağlamak için bir çözüm olabilir. Bu kapsamda, ticari bombus kolonileri kirazların tozlaşması için değerlendirilmiştir. Sultandağı-Afyonkarahisarda Prunus aviumun çiçeklenme döneminde iki yıl boyunca toplam 120 transekt gözlem ile günlük polen toplama faaliyetleri incelenmiştir. Arı yuvaları bahçeye yerleştirilmeden önce, kiraz ağaçları her 10 metrede bir farklı renkte olacak şekilde ipler ile işaretlenerek bombus arılarının bahçede ne kadar uzağa uçtuğunu ve polen topladığının tespit edebilmek mümkün hale getirilmiştir. Saaat 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 14:00, 16:00, ve 18:00de başlanan transekt gözlemler ile kiraz üzerinde polen toplayan arılar gözlemlenmiştir. Çiçekleri ziyaret eden bombus arılarının sayısı ortalama olarak hesaplanmıştır. Kiraz ile eş zamanlı çiçeklenen bitkiler örneklenmiştir. Bombus arılarının polen tercihleri korbikular polen yüklerinden alınan örneklerin değerlendirilmesi ile ortaya konmuştur. Arıların yoğunlukla bulundukları alan 10-40 metre aralığıdır, maksimum akitivite öğleden önce kaydedilmiştir. Dakikada ortalam çiçek ziyaret sayısı yaklaşık 8 çiçek olarak bulunmuştur. 90 oranında kiraz poleni yanında Taraxacum spp. ve Lamium spp. bitkilerinin polenlerinin de tercih edildiği tespit edilmiştir. Açık alanlarda ticari bombus arılarının kullanımı hala yaygın olmayan bir tarımsal uygulamadır, özellikle erken ilkbaharda çok erken çiçeklenme dönemlerine sahip bitkiler için, polen toplama kapasitelerine göre çok iyi yönetilebilir tozlayıcı ajanlar oldukları düşünülmektedir.

Makale detayları

Observations on the Foraging Behaviors of Commercial Bumble Bee Colonies in Prunus avium Orchards

Yazarlar:

Çiğdem Özenirler

Yayıncı:

Afyon Kocatepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Yapısal Biyoloji | Entomoloji

Dergi:

Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen Ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi Vol.23 Issue 4, pp.837-842

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

8/2023

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001297548

pISSN:

2149-3367

Bombus terrestris

foraging behavior

Prunus avium

pollinationBombus terrestris

polen toplama

Prunus avium

tozlaşma

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Çiğdem Özenirler

Yayıncı: Afyon Kocatepe University

Ana Başlıklar: Yapısal Biyoloji | Entomoloji

Dergi: Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen Ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi Vol.23 Issue 4, pp.837-842

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 8/2023

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2001297548

pISSN: 2149-3367

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Çiğdem Özenirler

Yayıncı:

Afyon Kocatepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Yapısal Biyoloji | Entomoloji

Dergi:

Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen Ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi Vol.23 Issue 4, pp.837-842

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

8/2023

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001297548

pISSN:

2149-3367