Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T03:25:15.155Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

DENSITY, DIVERSITY, AND EFFICIENCY OF POLLINATORS OF SAINFOIN, ONOBRYCHIS VICIAEFOLIA SCOP.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

K.W. Richards  and
P.D. Edwards
K.W. Richards
Affiliation:
Agriculture Canada Research Station, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
P.D. Edwards
Affiliation:
Agriculture Canada Research Station, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The density and efficiency of bumble bees, honey bees, and alfalfa leafcutter bees on sainfoin, Onobrychis viciaefolia Scop., grown in southern Alberta were studied. Six species of bees were identified as pollinators, with alfalfa leafcutter bees comprising 56% of the observations, honey bees 40%, and bumble bees 4%. The density of flowers over the season can be described as curvilinear. The mean number of flowers per raceme decreased significantly over the season. The rate of foraging by pollinator species from flower to flower varied and is described by multiple regression models. Julian date, hour of day, and flower density are the independent variables. More than 90% of the bees visited three or fewer flowers per raceme when 60% of the racemes had three or more flowers available for pollination. The bees foraged on sainfoin for about 12 h per day and average bee density increased significantly with the corresponding flower density. A theoretical approach used to predict the bee populations required to pollinate varying flower densities shows that the required population of bumble bees is about two-thirds that of honey bees or alfalfa leafcutter bees. The observed populations of pollinators did not correspond well with the derived values, probably because multiple visits per flower are required for fertilization.

Résumé

Les auteurs ont étudié la densité et l’efficacité des bourdons, des abeilles domestiques et des mégachiles de la luzerne sur le sainfoin, Onobrychis viciaefolia Scop., cultivé dans le sud de l’Alberta. Parmi les insectes pollinisateurs de cette culture, ils ont observé six espèces d’apidés dont les trois susmentionées, dans les proportions 4%, 40% et 56%. Au cours de la saison de végétation, la densité des fleurs varie suivant une courbe curvilinéaire, et le nombre moyen de fleurs par grappe diminue de façon significative. Le taux de butinage varie selon les espèces pollinisatrices et est représentée par des modèles de régression multiples. La date du calendrier julien, l’heure du jour et la densité des fleurs sont les variables indépendantes. Plus de 90% des apidés à l’étude ont visité trois fleurs ou moins par grappe lorsque 60% des grappes comptaient au moins trois fleurs prêtes à être pollinisées. Les espèces observées passaient environ 12 h chaque jour à butiner dans le sainfoin, et leur densité moyenne a augmenté de façon significative en fonction de la densité des fleurs. L’approche théorique utilisée pour prévoir le nombre de sujets de chaque espèce nécessaire pour polliniser différentes densités de fleurs révèle que la population de bourdons requise à cette fin n’équivaut qu’au deux tiers environ du nombre d’abeilles domestiques ou de mégachiles de la luzerne. Le nombre de pollinisateurs de chaque espèce observé ne concorde pas avec les valeurs obtenues, et cela probablement parce que plusieurs visites d’une même fleur sont nécessaires pour assurer la fécondation.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 120 , Issue 12 , December 1988 , pp. 1085 - 1100
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bogoyavlenskii, S.G. 1955. Bees and sainfoin. Pchelovodstvo, Mosk. 32: 10–14.Google Scholar
Bogoyavlenskii, S.G. 1974. The multiplicity of visits to sainfoin by honey bees and its importance for the yields of seeds. Proc. III International Symp. Pollination. pp. 121–127.Google Scholar
Bogoyavlenskii, S.G., Rozov, S.A., and Tereschenko, A.K.. 1976. [Pollination of sainfoin by bees]. Espartset i opylenie ego pchelani. Naucho-Issledovatel'skii Institut Pchelovodstva, Ryazan, U.S.S.R.124 pp.Google Scholar
Bosca, I., and Hejja, S.. 1963. [Data on fertilization in sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.).] Novenytermeles 12(2): 137–142.Google Scholar
Cooper, C.S., and Carleton, A.E.. 1968. Sainfoin symposium. Montana State Univ. Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 627. 109 pp.Google Scholar
Dubbs, A.L. 1967. Sainfoin: a new honey crop for Montana. Am. Bee J. 107: 18–19.Google Scholar
Dubbs, A.L. 1968. Sainfoin as a honey crop. Montana Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 627: 108–109.Google Scholar
Fomina, K. Ya. 1961. Effect of shelter belts on nectar production and seed yield of sainfoin and sunflower. Dokl. TSKHA. 62: 531–536.Google Scholar
Hanna, M.R. 1980. Nova sainfoin. Can. J. Plant Sci. 60: 1481–1483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanna, M.R., Cooke, D.H., Smoliak, S., Goplen, B.P., and Wilson, D.B.. 1977. Sainfoin for western Canada. Agric. Can. Publ. 1470. 18 pp.Google Scholar
Haragsimová-Neprašová, L. 1960. Zjištování nektarodárnosti rostlin. Vĕd. Pr. vŷzk. Uśt. vcelár. CSAZV. 2: 63–79.Google Scholar
Harder, L.D. 1983. Flower handling efficiency of bumble bees: morphological aspects of probing time. Oecologia 57: 274–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harder, L.D. 1985. Morphology as a predictor of flower choice by bumble bees. Ecology 66: 198–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G.H., Nummi, W.O., and Virostek, J.F.. 1961. Behaviour of honey, bumble, and leafcutter bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Alberta. Can. Ent. 93: 409–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendall, D.A., and Smith, B.D.. 1975. The pollinating efficiency of honey bees and bumble bee visits to field bean flowers (Vicia faba L.). J. appl. Ecol. 12: 709–717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knipe, W.J., and Carleton, A.E.. 1972. Estimates of the percentage of self- and cross-pollination in sainfoin (Onobrychis viciaefolia Scop.). Crop Sci. 12: 520–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knuth, P. 1906–1909. Handbook of Flower Pollination [trans. by Ainsworth-Davis, J.R.]. Claredon Press, Oxford. 3 vol., pp. 318–320.Google Scholar
Kropacova, S., and Haslbachova, H.. 1969. Study of the honey bee foraging on sainfoin plants (Onobrychis viciaefolia, Thell). 22nd Int. Apiculture Cong. Proc., Munich. pp. 476–477.Google Scholar
Petkov, V. 1958. An investigation on the nectar yield of sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa), phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), borage (Borago officinalis) and buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). Nauchni Trud. Minist. Zemed. Gorite 1: 211–246.Google Scholar
Plett, F.C. 1947. American Honey Plants, 4th ed. Orange-Judd Publishing Co., Inc., New York. 467 pp.Google Scholar
Ricciardelli D'Albore, G.C. 1984. Osservazioni sugli insetti pronubi di alcune leguminosae (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop., Lotus corniculatus L., Medicago arborea L., Medicago sativa L.) in un areale specializzato. Redia 67: 145–155.Google Scholar
Ricciardelli D'Albore, G.C. 1985. Gli insetti impollinatori della lupinella (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) in Umbria e del Trifoglio incarnato (Trifolium incarnatum L.) nel Lazio. Redia 68: 39–60.Google Scholar
Richards, K.W. 1984. Alfalfa leafcutter bee management in Western Canada. Agric. Can. Publ. 1495 Rev. 53 pp.Google Scholar
Rozov, S.A. 1952. Sainfoin — one of the best honey plants in crop rotation. Pchelovodstvo, Mosk. 29: 46–52.Google Scholar
Sokal, R.R., and Rohlf, F.J.. 1981. Biometry, 2nd ed. W.G. Freeman and Co., San Francisco. 859 pp.Google Scholar
Straw, R.M. 1972. A Markov model for pollinator constancy and competition. Am. Nat. 106: 597–620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tereshchenko, A.K. 1949. Pollination of sainfoin by honey bees. Pchelovodstvo, Mosk. 26(6): 338–341.Google Scholar
Thomson, J.R. 1938. Cross- and self-fertilization in sainfoin. Ann. appl. Biol. 25: 695–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar