Tag: apple orchard

Pollinators, Research summaries

Honeybees interfere with wild bees in apple pollination in China

In this blog post, Yunhui Liu and team discuss their latest research into the importance of honeybees and wild bees for apple pollination, as well as whether the contribution of wild bees is influenced by increasing numbers of honeybees. Animal pollination is crucial for sustainable crop production and food security. Although there is a growing reliance on pollinators in crop production, global reports indicate a … Continue reading Honeybees interfere with wild bees in apple pollination in China

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Agriculture, Plant and soil ecology, Research summaries

Powerful flowers

In a recent study, Charlotte Howard and her colleagues report that floral strips can be a practical and effective way to encourage natural pest control in commercial apple orchards. Floral margins can deliver a measurable increase in yield of undamaged fruit. We found that by using flower margins in conventional orchards, farmers were able to significantly reduce damage by a problematic global pest: the rosy … Continue reading Powerful flowers

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Agriculture, Pollinators, Research summaries

Bee pollen reveals how multiple threats could contribute to bee decline

Recent research from Centrella et al. shows the effects agriculture and associated pesticides are having on bees in terms of both their diets and the offspring they produce. Here they discuss their findings. Threats to bee pollinators such as land use change, high pesticide use, and reduced floral diet diversity are usually assessed independently, even though we know that bees face these threats simultaneously in … Continue reading Bee pollen reveals how multiple threats could contribute to bee decline

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