Bees at work in tomatoes

[MikeT]

I have just visited, as part of my job, a large glasshouse nursery growing tomatoes.

They are employing bumble bees (Bombus terestris)(a native spp) to pollinate the tomatoes. There are 170 hives in use. Tomatoes do not have any nectar so sugar stations are provided to feed the bees, they do collect the pollen from the tomato flowers as tey do the pollination.

In the good old days tomatoes were pollinated by electric bees, a time consuming job.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ok I'll ask. What is an electric bee?

 

[pargyle]

In my youth it used to be a kid with a feather ....me !!

 

[MikeT]

Ok I'll ask. What is an electric bee?

I'm glad you asked the question. It's a vibrator with a long vibrating finger (shaped a bit like an electric tooth brush) which is put on the truss, and the vibrations cause the pollen to fallen onto:the stigma. (lets wait for comments from JBM I'm sure we will get some)

I don't know whether the Forum will allow this :- 40 odd years ago I worked on a fruit farm in the USA which grew tomatoes. We pollinated the tomatoes with modified vibrators (sex toys ) imported from Japan, I was told the American versions were too big.

 

[jonnybeegood]

I was told the American versions were too big.

Get a welsh version, you could attach it to the green house. & do all the plants in one go .

 

[wessexmario]

I'm so glad this thread has a heading otherwise I'd have no idea what the subject being discussed was...

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I have just visited, as part of my job, a large glasshouse nursery growing tomatoes.

They are employing bumble bees (Bombus terestris)(a native spp) to pollinate the tomatoes. There are 170 hives in use. Tomatoes do not have any nectar so sugar stations are provided to feed the bees, they do collect the pollen from the tomato flowers as tey do the pollination.

In the good old days tomatoes were pollinated by electric bees, a time consuming job.

We just used to partly close the end of a water hose with a thumb to create a coarse spray and use it on the plants. The ensuing shaking by the water caused pollen to fall about within the flower and fertilisation was the result.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Get a welsh version, you could attach it to the green house. & do all the plants in one go .

Hilarious

 

[wightbees]

I worked in those glass houses 25 years ago and they used bumblebees in boxes then. They throw
Them in the skip at the end of the season when they rip the lot out for new plants to come in!
Or did do 8 years ago when I left ?

 

[MikeT]

[quote=Gilberdyke John;467604]We just used to partly close the end of a water hose with a thumb to create a coarse spray and use it on the plants. The ensuing shaking by the water caused pollen to fall about within the flower and fertilisation was the result.[/quote]

With growing in hydroponics they do not want the foliage to get wet. Disease prevention (especially mildew and Botrytis) is a serious concern especially with long term crops, Planted in November and pulled out the following November, by that time the plants are over 30 ft long. The plants do not receive any water on their leaves throughout the whole season.

Wightbees
I worked in those glass houses 25 years ago and they used bumblebees in boxes then. They throw
Them in the skip at the end of the season when they rip the lot out for new plants to come in!
Or did do 8 years ago when I left

8 years ago the tomato growers were not using indigenous spp of b bees, and I believe they had to be killed to prevent escape into the uK. Now they use indigenous species but these I believe are imported from Holland, As the season is now so long they may keep the bees from one season to the next and top up colonies in the spring.

 

[Goran]

In our greenhouse we do not use some extra pollination. Maybe some bumble bee make wrong turn and enter.. but we have more than plenty tomatoes. Also we grow paprika/peppers in greenhouse, also plenty.. Over here we use a lot of tomatoes and paprika. As these are self pollinated, for hobby growers I believe no need to extra work for that.

 

[bontbee]

Now they use indigenous species but these I believe are imported from Holland, As the season is now so long they may keep the bees from one season to the next and top up colonies in the spring.

Errrm, sorry Mike, I hope I'm not appearing to be picky, but are they indigenous if they are imported? They may be the same species but, by definition, they are not indigenous if they are imported....

 

[wessexmario]

Errrm, sorry Mike, I hope I'm not appearing to be picky, but are they indigenous if they are imported? They may be the same species but, by definition, they are not indigenous if they are imported....

Could be...

They could be breeding our indigenous bees in Holland after having exported them there.
Or
it could be that the species is indigenous to an area that includes both England and Holland.

 

[MikeT]

Errrm, sorry Mike, I hope I'm not appearing to be picky, but are they indigenous if they are imported? They may be the same species but, by definition, they are not indigenous if they are imported....

I don't know but I will find out. I suspect they are Dutch B terestris.

This is the company which exports most B bees to the UK
http://www.koppert.com/pollination/...umble-bees/which-bumblebees-species-are-used/.

No you were not picky just sensible.

Mike

 

[bontbee]

Not sure if that's a good thing either, Mike!

I was interested, as I gather that greenhouse pollination relies on the continued importation of bumble bees. Unless things have changed, they don't seem to be too careful where the bees end up - as I understand it, they don't attempt to destroy nests before they reach maturity. It's probably not a huge influence on the native population of that species - unless/until they carry yet another new disease - but it occurs to me that it's just another example of us not taking proper care of what we have...