Zhang Hong, Zhou Zhiyong, An Jiandong
Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
Insects. 2019 Jul 22;10(7):216. doi: 10.3390/insects10070216.
Pollen is important not only for pollination and fertilization of plants, but also for colony development of bee pollinators. Anther dehiscence determines the available pollen that can be collected by foragers. In China, honeybees and bumblebees are widely used as pollinators in solar greenhouse agriculture. To better understand the effect of solar greenhouse microclimates on pollen release and pollen-foraging behaviour, we observed the anther dehiscence dynamics and daily pollen-collecting activity of and during peach anthesis in a solar greenhouse in Beijing. Microclimate factors had a significant effect on anther dehiscence and bee foraging behaviour. The proportion of dehisced anthers increased with increasing temperature and decreasing relative humidity and peaked from 11:00 h to 14:00 h, coinciding with the peak pollen-collecting activity of bees. On sunny days, most pollen grains were collected by the two pollinators within two hours after anther dehiscence, at which time the viability of pollen had not yet significantly decreased. Our study helps us to better understand the relationship between food resources and pollinator foraging behaviour and to make better use of bees for pollination in Chinese solar greenhouses.
花粉不仅对植物的授粉和受精很重要，而且对传粉蜜蜂群体的发展也很重要。花药开裂决定了可供觅食者采集的花粉量。在中国，蜜蜂和熊蜂被广泛用作日光温室农业的传粉者。为了更好地了解日光温室小气候对花粉释放和花粉觅食行为的影响，我们在北京一个日光温室中观察了桃树花期期间蜜蜂和熊蜂的花药开裂动态和每日花粉采集活动。小气候因素对花药开裂和蜜蜂觅食行为有显著影响。开裂花药的比例随着温度升高和相对湿度降低而增加，并在11:00至14:00达到峰值，这与蜜蜂的花粉采集活动高峰期相吻合。在晴天，大多数花粉粒在花药开裂后两小时内被这两种传粉者采集，此时花粉的活力尚未显著下降。我们的研究有助于我们更好地理解食物资源与传粉者觅食行为之间的关系，并更好地利用蜜蜂在中国日光温室中进行授粉。
