Abstract
The current honey bee decline necessitates the use of alternative native pollinators to ensure global food security. Here, we compared the pollination behaviour and efficiency of the African honey bee (Apis mellifera) and six African endemic Meliponini (Meliponula bocandei, Dactylurina schmidti, Meliponula lendliana, Hypotrigona gribodoi, Meliponula ferruginea and Meliponula togoensis) in a greenhouse with the non-parthenocarpic cucumber variety Super Marketer. Honey bees and D. schmidti started foraging on introduction in the greenhouse, while M. lendliana and M. togoensis showed the longest delay. In most species, foragers collected nectar and pollen, excepting M. bocandei that specialized in nectar collection, and H. gribodoi and M. togoensis, specialized in pollen collection. African honey bees visited flowers the shortest, while H. gribodoi and D. schmidti had a 2-fold probing time, on average. Most stingless bees species had a lower hive activity with fewer foragers encountered per hour than for honey bees, except D. schmidti. M. bocandei, M. ferruginea, A. mellifera scutellata and H. gribodoi, yielded a seed germination percentage of around 90%. M. lendliana, M. togoensis and D. schmidti yielded a much lower seed germination percentage around 30%, which indicates that the quality of pollination was remarkably lower by using these three species. The highest sugar content was recorded in fruits from flowers pollinated by M. bocandei, African honey bees, D. schimdti or M. togoensis with the same solid content as the gold standard method, i.e., hand cross-pollination. We found that M. bocandei was the most efficient cucumber pollinator of all species tested: because pollination by this species yielded the largest and heaviest fruits and the highest seed numbers.
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Claims 13
Claim · model-written summary
Honey bees and D. schmidti began foraging when introduced.
- Taxon
- cucumber
Cucumis sativust0 - Interactor
- D. schmidtiDactylurina schmidtie0pollinator
- Outcome
- started foraging on introductione0
- Setting
- greenhousee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Honey bees and D. schmidti started foraging on introduction in the greenhouse”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
M. lendliana and M. togoensis had the longest foraging delay.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- M. lendliana and M. togoensise0pollinator
- Outcome
- longest delaye0
- Direction
- longeste0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. lendliana and M. togoensis showed the longest delay”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Most species collected nectar and pollen.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Outcome
- collected nectar and pollene0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In most species, foragers collected nectar and pollen”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
M. bocandei specialized in nectar collection.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- M. bocandei
Meliponula bocandeie0pollinator - Outcome
- specialized in nectar collectione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. bocandei that specialized in nectar collection”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
H. gribodoi and M. togoensis specialized in pollen collection.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- H. gribodoi and M. togoensise0pollinator
- Outcome
- specialized in pollen collectione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“H. gribodoi and M. togoensis, specialized in pollen collection”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
African honey bees made the shortest flower visits.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- African honey bees
Apis mellifera scutellatae0pollinator - Outcome
- visited flowerse0
- Direction
- shorteste0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“African honey bees visited flowers the shortest”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
H. gribodoi and D. schmidti had roughly twice the probing time.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- H. gribodoi and D. schmidtiHypotrigona gribodoiDactylurina schmidtie0pollinator
- Outcome
- probing timee0
- Value
- 2-folde0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“H. gribodoi and D. schmidti had a 2-fold probing time, on average”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Most stingless bee species had fewer foragers per hour than honey bees, except D. schmidti.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- stingless bees speciesMeliponinie0pollinator
- Outcome
- foragers encountered per houre0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Qualifier
- except D. schmidtie0
- Comparator
- honey beese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Most stingless bees species had a lower hive activity with fewer foragers encountered per hour than for honey bees, except D. schmidti”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollination by four named bees yielded around 90% seed germination.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- M. bocandei, M. ferruginea, A. mellifera scutellata and H. gribodoi
_Apis_mellifera_(female)_-_on_viburnum_tinus_flowers.jpg?width=60)
Apis melliferaHypotrigona gribodoiMeliponula bocandei.jpg?width=60)
Meliponula ferrugineae0pollinator - Outcome
- seed germination percentagee0
- Value
- around 90%e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Apis_mellifera_(female)_-_on_viburnum_tinus_flowers.jpg?width=500)
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“M. bocandei, M. ferruginea, A. mellifera scutellata and H. gribodoi, yielded a seed germination percentage of around 90%”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollination by three named bees yielded around 30% seed germination.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- M. lendliana, M. togoensis and D. schmidtie0pollinator
- Outcome
- seed germination percentagee0
- Direction
- much lowere0
- Value
- around 30%e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. lendliana, M. togoensis and D. schmidti yielded a much lower seed germination percentage around 30%”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
Four pollinator groups produced fruits with the highest sugar content and the same solid content as hand cross pollination.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Interactor
- M. bocandei, African honey bees, D. schimdti or M. togoensise0pollinator
- Outcome
- sugar contente0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Comparator
- hand cross-pollinatione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The highest sugar content was recorded in fruits from flowers pollinated by M. bocandei, African honey bees, D. schimdti or M. togoensis with the same solid content as the gold standard method, i.e., hand cross-pollination”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
M. bocandei pollination produced the largest and heaviest cucumber fruits and highest seed numbers.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativust0
- Outcome
- largest and heaviest fruits and the highest seed numberse0
- Direction
- higheste0
Not reportedInteractorInteractor role
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“pollination by this species yielded the largest and heaviest fruits and the highest seed numbers”
t0“cucumber”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors judged M. bocandei the most efficient cucumber pollinator tested.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativuse0
- Interactor
- M. bocandeiMeliponula bocandeie0pollinator
- Outcome
- most efficient cucumber pollinatore0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. bocandei was the most efficient cucumber pollinator of all species tested”