HONEY BEES, APIS MELLIFERA(HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE), AS POLLINATORS OF LOWBUSH BLUEBERRY, VACCINIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM, ON NEWFOUNDLAND COASTAL BARRENS

• Published in: The Canadian Entomologist
• Main Authors: Lomond, Derek, Larson, David J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1983
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4039/ent1151647-12; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0008347X00036592

Abstract Flower production, fruit set, and pollinator activity were measured in two 1-year postburn blueberry fields on the coastal barrens of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland. Honey bees were stocked at a density of 1.7 colonies/ha in one field while the control field lacked honey bees. Bloom production was similar in the two fields but fruit set was 54% in the test compared with 39% in the control field. Native pollinator (bee) populations were similar between fields but total pollinator populations were much higher in the test field with the difference contributed by honey bees. On the coastal barrens, where native pollinator populations are low and bloom exists in abundance for a short period of time, under-pollination may limit fruit set under some conditions and thus honey bees may have value in increasing fruit yield.