Flowering, forage value, and insect pollination in borage (Borago officinalis L.) cultivated in se Poland

Abstrakt

The three-year study on borage was conducted in Lublin, SE Poland. The aims were to investigate the flowering pattern and abundance, and the attractiveness (in terms of nectar and pollen production) for flower-visiting insects, mainly bees. Insect visitation and the effect of pollinators on fruit set and seed set were assessed as well. Flowering of borage started in the latter half of June and lasted eight weeks. The mean number of flowers · m−2 of the crop was 4570 per season. A borage flower produced on average 4.0 mg of nectar with a mean sugar concentration of 31.5%. The mean total sugar amount secreted in nectar was 1.2 mg. The pollen amount · flower−1 was 1.1 mg. A borage plant can supply insects with 1.1 g of nectar sugars and 1.1 g of pollen. The estimated nectar sugar yield and pollen yield per 1 m2 of the crop were similar, i.e. 5.2 g. Bees accounted for 73.0% of all insect visits to the borage flowers. The presence of insect pollinators increased the fruit set by 43.3% and seed set by 26.8%.

Autorzy

artykuł
JOURNAL OF APICULTURAL SCIENCE
Angielski
2020
64
1
77-89
otwarte czasopismo
CC BY-NC-ND Uznanie autorstwa-Użycie niekomercyjne-Bez utworów zależnych 4.0
ostateczna wersja opublikowana
w momencie opublikowania
2020-07-02
70
0,788
0
1