Pollination and seed-setting of red clover in scrim-covered cages

Abstract

A great diversity of views is held on the efficiency of the honey-bee and certain species of bumble-bee as pollinators of red clover seed crops. An attempt was made to test the efficiency in New Zealand of the honeybee and the short-tongued Bombus terrestris, compared with the accepted efficiency of the long-tongued B. ruderatus, as pollinators of red clover. Plants were grown in scrim-covered cages, bees introduced during the flowering period, and the resultant seed crop harvested and the results noted. The experiments were carried out each year from 1954 to 1958 inclusive. The results showed that great variation occurred from year to year and factors other than pollinating insects were involved. The differences between the species over the years were not consistent. B. terrestris and the honey-bee are both shown to be capable of effecting an appreciable degree of red clover pollination. Evidence pointed to B. terrestris as the principal agent in the pollinating of red clover seed crops in. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.