Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T20:10:33.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

THE FIDELITY OF COMMERCIALLY REARED COLONIES OF BOMBUS IMPATIENS CRESSON (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) TO LOWBUSH BLUEBERRY IN SOUTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Troy L. Whidden
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada B0P 1X0

Extract

Lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait., V. myrtilloides Michx.) growers often use colonies of the European honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) to supplement native bee populations for pollination. Native bee fauna is thought to be insufficient in number and too unpredictable, in terms of numbers, from year to year to be relied on for adequate crop pollination (Kevan and LaBerge 1978; Mackenzie and Winston 1984; Mohr and Kevan 1987; Kevan 1988; Eck 1988).

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1996

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

Eck, P. 1988. Blueberry Science. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ. 284 pp.Google Scholar
Fisher, R.M., and Pomeroy, N.. 1989. Pollination of greenhouse muskmelons by bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Entomological Society of America 82: 10611066.Google Scholar
Kevan, P.G. 1988. Keeping up with pollination concerns and options for the future. Canadian Beekeeping 14: 7980.Google Scholar
Kevan, P.G., and LaBerge, W.E.. 1978. Demise and recovery of native pollinator populations through pesticide use and some economic implications. Proceedings of the IV International Symposium on Pollination, Maryland Agricultural Experimental Station Special Miscellaneous Publication 1: 489508.Google Scholar
Kevan, P.G., Straver, W.A., Offer, M., and Laverty, T.M.. 1991. Pollination of greenhouse tomatoes by bumble bees in Ontario. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 122: 1519.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, K.E., and Winston, M.L.. 1984. Diversity and abundance of native pollinators on berry crops and natural vegetation in the lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia. The Canadian Entomologist 116: 965974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohr, N.A., and Kevan, P.G.. 1987. Pollinators and pollination requirements of lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. and V. myrtilloides Michx.) and cranberry (V macrocarpon Ait.) in Ontario with notes on highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum) and lignonberry (V vitis-ideae L.). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 118: 149154.Google Scholar
Plowright, R.C., and Laverty, T.M.. 1987. Bumblebees and crop pollination in Ontario. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 118: 155160.Google Scholar
Robinson, W.S., Nowogrodzki, R., and Morse, R.A.. 1989. The value of honey bees as pollinators of U.S. crops. American Bee Journal 129: 411–423, 477487.Google Scholar
Southwick, E.E., and Southwick, L. Jr., 1992. Estimating the economic value of honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) as agricultural pollinators in the United States. Journal of Economic Entomology 85: 621633.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, P.F. 1969. Taxonomic Studies in the Ericaceae. Ph.D. thesis, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. 678 pp.Google Scholar
Torchio, P.F. 1990. Diversification of pollination strategies for U.S. crops. Environmental Entomology 19: 16491656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winston, M.L. 1987. The Biology of the Honey Bee. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. 281 pp.Google Scholar