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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Bees Don't Like my Kiwis

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  • From: Dan Nave <nave1@comcast.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Bees Don't Like my Kiwis
  • Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:12:00 -0500

According to this publication, the kiwi fruit does not produce nectar, and implies that they are visited by insects for the sake of their pollen.

Dan

http://www.pollinationcanada.ca/lit/Pollinator%20Awareness%20Paper.pdf

"Pollen is secondary to nectar as a floral feed reward for most insects.
Because it is rich in protein,
between seven and 35%,57 and starch, it is a vital food to the minor or
primitive pollinators, as well
as to bee larvae, which are totally dependent on pollen, nectar and in some
instances floral
oils.26,56,71 In plants that don’t offer nectar, pollen can be rich in lipids, including sterols that are
building blocks of hormones and pheromones. Pollen can also contain vitamins,
enzymes and
pigments. Special food bodies called staminodes (non-pollen-producing stamen)
satiate floraldestructive
insects.38 Some plants that need pollination, such as wild roses or kiwi
fruit, don’t even
produce nectar.19,37 Plants must ensure that any one visiting insect does not
take so much pollen in
one visit that pollination success is jeopardized by that insect either
returning directly to its nest
satiated or not leaving any floral rewards for the next visitor. Many complex
flowers force bees to
forage in a restricted position so that some pollen becomes attached to a
part of their body that
cannot be easily groomed into their pollen baskets,71 thereby ensuring pollen
transfer."



On 6/9/2011 12:59 PM, Douglas Woodard wrote:
It might have something to do with a local population buildup among
pollinators that like and/or can use kiwiflowers, and that benefit from
the availability of kiwi flowers. It would look to us like "learning."

I draw an analogy with the custom among dairy farmers to change the
diets of their cows gradually so that the species composition of their
gut microorganisms on which they depend so heavily, has time to adjust.

It may also have something to do with a decrease in the number of
species of pollinators in many places under modern conditions.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada


On 09/06/2011 1:36 PM, Alexander Brands wrote:

Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 19:52:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: John S<swim_at_svc@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Bees Don't Like my Kiwis
To: North American Fruit Explorers<nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>

Alan,

I had a conversation with a local berry grower that also does kiwis
a couple of years back.? He indicated it can take years for the
local pollinators to discover and get used to kiwi.
An interesting idea, but I'm skeptical. This would depend on
individuals (pollinators) living for several years, wouldn't it?

Perhaps another possibility along these lines would be that social
pollinators don't easily find it, but once one of them does, it tells
the others in the colony, ala the honeybee dance.....but this would
still depend on individuals living more than one season and
remembering where the kiwis are.

I'm not aware of bees doing this, but I'm no expert, and it wouldn't
be the first time someone underestimated the insects.

Alex
_





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