<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Bumblebee activity interaction with solar irradiation, solar irradiation and HPS lighting irradiation, the HPS effect of photoperiod, day temperature and hive density were assessed with tomato fruit weights in a commercial tomato glass greenhouse in 2020–2021. Pollination activity was measured by observing ten randomly chosen cv. ‘Beorange’ tomato plants and by counting bumblebee bruised tomato flowers. MANOVA was conducted between factors and bee activity, followed by Pearson’s correlation. A Mann-Whitney U test was calculated to determine the significance between tomato flower bruising levels and fruit weights, followed by Cliff’s delta (<italic>d</italic>). Pollination activity decreased mainly in December and January when solar irradiation decreased to below 110 J cm−2 day−1. Bumblebee activity was significantly affected by solar irradiation with HPS lighting (p&lt;0.001; p&lt;0.01). There was a significant correlation between bumblebee activity and solar irradiation (r= 0.75; p&lt;0.05), and solar irradiation with HPS lighting (r= 0.70; p&lt;0.05). There was no correlation between bumblebee activity and fruit weights (r= −0.20; p&lt;0.05). Bruised flowers had significantly greater fruit weight increases (165.7 g) compared to unbruised flowers (123.4 g) (<italic>d</italic>= 0.12; p&lt;0.05). Bee activity rates between 60% to 80% can be concluded as an effective rate for tomato growers. Bumblebees need at least 110–154 J cm−2 day−1 of solar irradiation to achieve a high pollination activity rate in temperate climate zones during the winter season.
</abstract>

Bumblebee activity interaction with solar irradiation, solar irradiation and HPS lighting irradiation, the HPS effect of photoperiod, day temperature and hive density were assessed with tomato fruit weights in a commercial tomato glass greenhouse in 2020–2021. Pollination activity was measured by observing ten randomly chosen cv. ‘Beorange’ tomato plants and by counting bumblebee bruised tomato flowers. MANOVA was conducted between factors and bee activity, followed by Pearson’s correlation. A Mann-Whitney U test was calculated to determine the significance between tomato flower bruising levels and fruit weights, followed by Cliff’s delta (d). Pollination activity decreased mainly in December and January when solar irradiation decreased to below 110 J cm−2 day−1. Bumblebee activity was significantly affected by solar irradiation with HPS lighting (p<0.001; p<0.01). There was a significant correlation between bumblebee activity and solar irradiation (r= 0.75; p<0.05), and solar irradiation with HPS lighting (r= 0.70; p<0.05). There was no correlation between bumblebee activity and fruit weights (r= −0.20; p<0.05). Bruised flowers had significantly greater fruit weight increases (165.7 g) compared to unbruised flowers (123.4 g) (d= 0.12; p<0.05). Bee activity rates between 60% to 80% can be concluded as an effective rate for tomato growers. Bumblebees need at least 110–154 J cm−2 day−1 of solar irradiation to achieve a high pollination activity rate in temperate climate zones during the winter season.

Bumblebee pollination activity in a commercial tomato greenhouse during the winter season

Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies

Rural Sustainability Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Bumblebee activity interaction with solar irradiation, solar irradiation and HPS lighting irradiation, the HPS effect of photoperiod, day temperature and hive...

Bumblebee pollination activity in a commercial tomato greenhouse during the winter season

Publié en ligne: 05 janv. 2023

Pages: 45 - 53

Reçu: 26 sept. 2022

Accepté: 03 nov. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/plua-2022-0015

Mots clés
Bombus terrestris, horticulture, pollinators, tomatoes, greenhouse

© 2022 Niks Ozols et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Bumblebee pollination activity in a commercial tomato greenhouse during the winter season

Publié en ligne: 05 janv. 2023

Pages: 45 - 53

Reçu: 26 sept. 2022

Accepté: 03 nov. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/plua-2022-0015

Mots clésBombus terrestris, horticulture, pollinators, tomatoes, greenhouse

© 2022 Niks Ozols et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
Bombus terrestris, horticulture, pollinators, tomatoes, greenhouse