Huertas

Apidologie 31 (2000) 141–142 © INRA/DIB/AGIB/EDP Sciences

141

Scientific note

A scientific note on the use of stingless bees for commercial pollination in enclosures
Ester Judith SLAA*,Luis Alejandro SANCHEZ, Miriam SANDI, William SALAZAR PRAM, Utrecht University, The Netherlands & CINAT, Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, Apartado Postal 475-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica (Received 3January 1999; revised 23 September 1999; accepted 6 November 1999) pollination / enclosure / stingless bees / Salvia

Stingless bees are considered to be very important pollinators in the tropics, andthey are known to effectively pollinate at least 9 crops [1]. Nevertheless, they are seldomly used for commercial pollination. To our knowledge, only one study has been published using stingless bees forcrop pollination [2]. In that study, Nannotrigona testaceicornis was used successfully to pollinate strawberries in a greenhouse in Japan. There are several advantages that might make stingless beesmore suitable for the pollination of certain crops than the commonly used honeybee [1, 3]. The fact that they lack a functional sting makes them especially suitable for pollination in enclosures. Inour study, we compared the pollinating activity between two species of sting-less bees and honeybees on the ornamental plant Salvia farinacea var. strata (Lamiaceae) in enclosures. S. farinacea is anornamental herbaceous plant, with small (ca. 1 cm) purple and white flowers. It is commercially grown for seed export, usually in enclosures to ensure the production of pure seeds.

Experiments werecarried out at the seed company Flora Feliz, Cartago, Costa Rica (9° 43’ 51’’ N, 83° 54’ 51’’ W, altitude 1388 m). Flower visitors of S. farinacea were captured in an open-air patch of 40 plants inDecember 1995. Pollination experiments were conducted in four netted enclosures (6 × 3 × 3 m) in April 1996. Each enclosure contained 60 plants that were pollinated by one of the three bee species...