2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Selection and application of the native Japanese honeybee, Apis cerana japonica for pollination purpose
| Project/Area Number |
16580040
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Applied entomology
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| Research Institution | Tamagawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
YOSHIDA Tadaharu Tamagawa University, Research Institute, Professor, 学術研究所, 教授 (80138601)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SASAKI Masami Tamagawa University, Faculty of Agriculture, Professor, 農学部, 教授 (40096061)
WAKI Koichi Tamagawa University, Faculty of Agriculture, Associate Professor, 農学部, 助教授 (40102024)
MIZUNO Soe Tamagawa University, Faculty of Agriculture, Associate Professor, 農学部, 助教授 (10166027)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | Apis cerana japonica / Apis mellifera / Pollination / Mango / Passionfruit / Blueberry / Selective breeding |
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| Research Abstract |
To establish a desirable strain of the native Japanese honeybee for the pollination of tropical fruits like mango, passion fruit, and deciduous blueberries, successive selection using artificial insemination was carried out. The pollination performance of the selected bees was evaluated as follows.
1. For mango, the pollination efficiency was compared among Japanese honeybee Apis cerana japonica, European honeybee A. mellifera, bumblebee Bombus ignitus, and a blow fly Chrysomya rufifacies in plastic greenhouses. A. c. japonica was best in the repeatability of flower visiting and translocation among flowers.
2. For passionfruit, a special attachment for the bee hive was developed. Under the usual placement of intact hives in plastic house, bees were visited the flowers in earlier timing and all pollen grains were taken away, but no pollination was observed. Thus we developed a special hive entrance unit, whose open and close were automatically operated by time switch, to allow the bee's foraging only during the later timing of flowering. This gated foraging system made the pollen transferring to stigma possible, but the resultant fruits were smaller than that pollinated by hand, probably because the amount of pollen transferred was not enough.
3. For Blueberries, pollination efficiency was compared between the selected A. c. japonica and usual A. mellifera. Foraging activity was distinctly higher in the A. c. japonica especially in rainy day with a relative humidity exceeding 90%.
From a series of present studies, the Japanese honeybee was evaluated to have good potential as a fruit pollinator and to become very useful through further selection.
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