AN EFFECTIVE, MANAGEABLE BEE FOR POLLINATION OF RUBUS BRAMBLE FRUITS, OSMIA AGLAIA

The non-social cavity-nesting bee Osmia aglaia Sandhouse (Apiformes: Megachilidae) shows promise as a manageable and effective pollinator for commercial raspberries and blackberries (Rubus). Floral visits by honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) or by less numerous caged O. aglaia yielded red raspberries of equivalent size; berries from unvisited caged flowers were significantly smaller.
Female O. aglaia readily visited flowers of various blackberry cultivars too. Female foraging behavior on top of a flower’s pistils maximizes the chances for pollen transfer to innermost stigmas.
The bee readily nests in inexpensive commercial foam nesting substrates modified from those already used for the alfalfa leaf-cutting bee.
An affordable, durable nesting shelter and practical support frame has also been field tested.
Large nesting populations have been increased in commercial bramble fruits in Oregon USA. Within its range in western Oregon and California USA, this effective native pollinator of Rubus could be a sustainably managed bee for cultivated bramble fruits.

IX International Rubus and Ribes Symposium

J.H. Cane

bramble fruits, Rosaceae, pollinator, raspberry, blackberry, Apiformes, Megachilidae

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.777.70