[Pollinator] re Peter Bernhardt's question about cranberry and blueberry pollinators

[Sharon Reeve]

*Habrapoda laboriosa* is a native bee that is important for pollination of
SE blueberry crops. This paper suggests that it is bee species diversity is
important too.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0097307

On Mon, Nov 9, 2015 at 1:34 PM, Clement Kent <clementfkent at gmail.com> wrote:

> Cranberries: Broussard et al 2011 (
> http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/46/6/885.short) found
> honeybees and bumblebees in cultivated cranberries in a 2:1 ratio but
> pollen collection was in a 1:2 ratio. In other words, if pollen collected
> predicts pollinator impact, bumblebees and honeybees were about even in
> this study.
>
> Blueberries: Buzz pollination is important in highbush blueberries, and
> bumblebees are therefore more effective than honeybees. "Bumble bees and
> other species of wild bees are the most effective pollinators of
> blueberry." (pollinator.ca,
> http://www.pollinator.ca/bestpractices/blueberries.html, and references
> therein). Lowbush blueberries were predominantly pollinated by bumblebees
> and other native bees until introductions of pesticide spraying for spruce
> budworm in Eastern Canada reduced their numbers greatly. The attendant crop
> losses showed they were important to the crop (Kevan 1975 et seq). In very
> large commercial lowbush blueberry fields which have little alternative
> forage, honeybees are indeed imported to maintain yields, but local
> agricultural agents note that this will not be required if farmers maintain
> forage strips of wildflowers around blueberry fields.
>
> So yep, honeybees are often used with both crops, but they aren't as good
> as bumblebees at it. Honeybees are used where excessive pesticide and
> herbicide used has made native pollinators less abundant.
>
> Clement Kent
>
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>
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