PreprintArticleVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
A Manipulable Entrance Honey Bee Hive System Allowing Bees to Forage outside Part of the Day Improved Zucchini Pollination in Greenhouses and Reduced Damage to the Colonies
Version 1
: Received: 18 April 2024 / Approved: 22 April 2024 / Online: 22 April 2024 (15:01:02 CEST)
How to cite:
Gomes, C.R.A.; Batista, M.A.M.; Ferraz, Y.M.M.; Trivellato, M.F.; Siniscalchi, G.A.; Polycarpo, G.V.; Rigobelo, E.C.; De Jong, D.; Nicodemo, D. A Manipulable Entrance Honey Bee Hive System Allowing Bees to Forage outside Part of the Day Improved Zucchini Pollination in Greenhouses and Reduced Damage to the Colonies. Preprints2024, 2024041431. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1431.v1
Gomes, C.R.A.; Batista, M.A.M.; Ferraz, Y.M.M.; Trivellato, M.F.; Siniscalchi, G.A.; Polycarpo, G.V.; Rigobelo, E.C.; De Jong, D.; Nicodemo, D. A Manipulable Entrance Honey Bee Hive System Allowing Bees to Forage outside Part of the Day Improved Zucchini Pollination in Greenhouses and Reduced Damage to the Colonies. Preprints 2024, 2024041431. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1431.v1
Gomes, C.R.A.; Batista, M.A.M.; Ferraz, Y.M.M.; Trivellato, M.F.; Siniscalchi, G.A.; Polycarpo, G.V.; Rigobelo, E.C.; De Jong, D.; Nicodemo, D. A Manipulable Entrance Honey Bee Hive System Allowing Bees to Forage outside Part of the Day Improved Zucchini Pollination in Greenhouses and Reduced Damage to the Colonies. Preprints2024, 2024041431. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1431.v1
APA Style
Gomes, C.R.A., Batista, M.A.M., Ferraz, Y.M.M., Trivellato, M.F., Siniscalchi, G.A., Polycarpo, G.V., Rigobelo, E.C., De Jong, D., & Nicodemo, D. (2024). A Manipulable Entrance Honey Bee Hive System Allowing Bees to Forage outside Part of the Day Improved Zucchini Pollination in Greenhouses and Reduced Damage to the Colonies. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1431.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Gomes, C.R.A., David De Jong and Daniel Nicodemo. 2024 "A Manipulable Entrance Honey Bee Hive System Allowing Bees to Forage outside Part of the Day Improved Zucchini Pollination in Greenhouses and Reduced Damage to the Colonies" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1431.v1
Abstract
Honey bee colonies rapidly decline when confined to greenhouses, increasing pollination rental costs as they need to be replaced frequently. We tested a hive system with entrances that can be manipulated to direct bees to inside or outside greenhouses containing a zucchini crop. In one greenhouse, the bees could only forage inside for 15 days; in another, bees were directed to the inside from 5 to 9 AM, after which they foraged outside. This procedure was repeated two more times in each greenhouse with new hives. Data was collected on how the number of bee flower visits affected fruit production, the frequency of flower visits, and the amount of bee brood and food in the hives. Flowers visited by bees four times or more set more and larger fruit. The frequency of flower visits by bees from the hives confined to the greenhouse was reduced after eight days; it was not reduced in the greenhouse with bees that could forage outside. Bee brood area was reduced in the colonies that were confined to the greenhouse, while it was maintained in the semiconfined hives. The hive system with controllable entrances proved effective for pollination, while causing less damage to the bees.
Keywords
brood; honey; pollen; fruit set; protected cultivation
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Insect Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
,
