Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T23:01:23.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Managing Colonies of Bumble Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) for Pollination Purposes1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. A. Hobbs ,
W. O. Nummi  and
J. F. Virostek
G. A. Hobbs
Affiliation:
Research Station, Canada Department of Agriculture, Lethbridge, Alberta
W. O. Nummi
Affiliation:
Research Station, Canada Department of Agriculture, Lethbridge, Alberta
J. F. Virostek
Affiliation:
Research Station, Canada Department of Agriculture, Lethbridge, Alberta
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Seed growers in Alberta must rely to a great extent on leaf-cutter bees, Megachile Latr., and bumble bees, Bombus Latr., to pollinate alfalfa and red clover. Depending largely on the lengths of their proboscises, certain species of leaf-cutter bees and bumble bees are valuable pollinators of these crops (Hobbs et al., 1961, Hobbs, 1962). The leaf-cutter bees are solitary, non-gregarious species and are, therefore, difficult to manage. Because bumble bees are colonial and are more prolific than leaf-cutter bees, and because suitable species for the pollination of alfalfa and of red clover are found in most regions of Alberta, efforts are presently being made to manage bumble bees.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 94 , Issue 11 , November 1962 , pp. 1121 - 1132
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1962

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Free, J. B. 1955. The adaptability of bumble bees to a change in the location of the nest. British J. Anim. Behav. 3: 61–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Free, J. B., and Butler, C. G.. 1959. Bumblebees. Collins, London.Google Scholar
Frisch, K. von. 1950. Bees; their vision, chemical senses, and language. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, N.Y.Google Scholar
Frison, T. H. 1926. Experiments in attracting queen bumblebees to artificial domiciles. J. Econ. Ent. 19: 149–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frison, T. H. 1927. Experiments in rearing colonies of bumble bees (Bremidae) in artificial nests. Biol. Bull. 52: 51–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fye, R. E., and Medler, J. T.. 1954. Field domiciles for bumblebees. J. Econ. Ent. 47: 672–676.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasselrot, T. B. 1952. A new method of starting bumblebee colonies. Agron. J. 44: 218–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasselrot, T. B. 1960. Studies on Swedish bumble bees (genus Bombus Latr.); their domestication and biology. Opusc. Ent. Suppl. 17: 1–192.Google Scholar
Hobbs, G. A., Virostek, J. F., and Nummi, W. O.. 1960. Establishment of Bombus spp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in artificial domiciles in southern Alberta. Canadian Ent. 92: 868–872.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G. A., Nummi, W. O., and Virostek, J. F.. 1961. Food-gathering behaviour of honey, bumble, and leaf-cutter bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Canadian Ent. 93: 409–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G. A. 1962. Further studies on the food-gathering behaviour of bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Canadian Ent. 94: 538–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holm, S. N. 1960. Experiments on the domestication of bumble bees (Bombus Latr.) in particular B. lapidarius L. and B. Terrestris L. Royal Vet. and Agric. College Year Book. Denmark. 1–19.Google Scholar
Holm, S. N., and Haas, H.. 1961. Erfahrungen und resultate drejähriger domestikationsversuche mit hummeln (Bombus Latr.). Albrecht-Thaer-Archiv. 5: 282–304.Google Scholar
Horber, E. 1961. Beitrag zur domestikation der hummeln. Vierteljahresschr. naturforsch. Ges. Zürich. 106: 424–447.Google Scholar
Morris, O. W., and Knowlton, G. F.. 1959. Controlling skunks. Utah State Univ. Ext. Serv. Leaf. 46.Google Scholar
Plath, O. E. 1934. Bumblebees and their ways. Macmillan, New York.Google Scholar
Sladen, F. W. L. 1912. The bumble-bee. Macmillan, London.Google Scholar
Valle, O. 1955. Untersuchungen zur sicherung der bestäubung von rotklee. Acta Agralia Fennica 83: 205–220.Google Scholar