Controlled pollination and population dynamics of pollinators of apple in Kashmir Mushtaq Tahmina*, Bilal Sheikh, Samuna Baby Division of Entomology, SKUAST-K (Shalimar), Srinagar, 191121, J&K *Email: ttttahmina2@gmail.com
Online published on 23 October, 2018. Abstract To investigate impact of Controlled Release Pollination on abundance and % population of major pollinators of apple, three pollination treatments were compared during 2011–12. i.e., natural pollination (Treatment T0), controlled release with three hive units (Treatment T1) and controlled release with five hive units (Treatment T2). Comparative abundance showed that hymenopterans were the most abundant visitors to apple flowers in all the treatments with the maximum population being under treatment T2 (77.78). The population of Apis mellifera L. in the three treatments differed significantly and an increase of 273.59 and 185.53% was demonstrated in a significant manner in orchards with controlled release of five and three hives, respectively, when compared to naturally pollinated orchards. Top Keywords Apple, pollination, Apis mellifera, controlled bee hives, population, abundance, productivity, quality. Top |