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Bee pollination benefits for litchi (lychee)

Extract from Bulletin 4298: Honeybee pollination

Litchi (Lychee)

Litchi chinensis -

Genetic variation of cultivars also influences fruit set using honey bees as pollinators - perhaps because of differences in nectar and pollen quality. This occurs for cashews and for many other plants.

Hives per hectare: 2 to 3.

Nectar production: High

Pollen: Anther dehiscence (pollen release) occurs between 7 am and midday (Ref. 3).

Foraging honey bees: Foraging bees were dominant between 9.30 am and 11.30 am in India and were less active in the afternoon (Ref. 1). Insects visit the flowers mostly between 6.30 am and noon in India (Ref. 3).

In South Africa, honey bees were the most abundant visitor to litchi (Ref. 2). Apis florea (a much smaller bee than Apis mellifera) and hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus) were the main pollinators of litchi in India (Ref. 5).

Honey production: Finely granulated and excellent.

Review of bee pollination benefits

• Average no. of fruit set/inflorescence
• • LITCHI (after Toit, 1994)
    

    Open pollinated (with honey bees) - 6
    Flowers bagged (no bees) - 2

  • LITCHI (after Pandey & Yadava, 1970)

    Open pollinated (incl. honey bees) - 0.71 to 11.3
    Flowers bagged (no bees) - 0.03 to 0.11

  • LITCHI (Bhatia et al., 1995)

    Open pollinated (incl. honey bees) - 2.31
    Flowers bagged (no bees) - 0.93

• Fruit set was two to three times greater when flowers had access to insects. The number of fruits/inflorescence and fruit weight was also greater (Ref. 1).
• Beehives strongly recommended in litchi orchards (Ref. 1).
• Honeybees and stingless bees comprised 98 to 99 per cent of pollinators (India) (Ref. 3).
• Insects other than honey bees had a negligible effect on pollination (Ref. 4).
• Flies and honeybees are the most common pollinators (Florida, USA).

Abstracts of scientific papers on litchi pollination

1. TITLE: Studies on the pollination and fruit production by Apis mellifera L. in seven cultivars of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.)

ABSTRACT: Four A. mellifera colonies were introduced to a litchi orchard in Himachal Pradesh, India, at the start of flowering. Honey bees visited flowers, especially in the morning (9.30-11.30 am), and less actively from 3 pm to 5 pm. A few Vespa basalis (wasps) and hoverflies were also observed. Fruit set in inflorescences accessible to insects was 2 to 3 times greater than in bagged inflorescences; fruits/inflorescence and fruit weight were also greater. Results varied between the different cultivars. The introduction of A. mellifera colonies to litchi orchards is strongly recommended.

AUTHOR: S.D. Badiyala and R. Garg

JOURNAL: Indian Bee Journal 52(1-4): 28-30 (1990).

2. TITLE: Pollination of avocados, mangoes and litchis

ABSTRACT: The first year's results from an ongoing study of insect pollination in avocado, mango and Litchi orchards near Tzaneen in the Eastern Transvaal Lowveld (South Africa) are discussed. All insect visitors were identified, honey bee foraging activity was investigated and the effect of pollinators on fruit set was determined by bagging 400 inflorescences while leaving another 400 to be open-pollinated. In avocados, in which 81% of visits were made by honey bees, insect pollinators were important for increased fruit set (a total of 33 fruits were obtained from the 400 open-pollinated inflorescences, compared with only 2 from the bagged ones). In mangoes, fruit set was poor in both open-pollinated and bagged inflorescences, probably a result of using the first inflorescences which growers normally remove. Honey bees were observed collecting extra-floral nectar from the bases of mango panicles. In litchis, honey bees were the most abundant visitors and fruit set averaged 6/inflorescence in open-pollinated panicles, compared with 2/inflorescence in bagged panicles.

AUTHOR: A.P. DuToit

JOURNAL: Inligtingsbulletin - Instituut vir Tropiese en Subtropiese Gewasse No. 262, 7-8 (1994).

3. TITLE: Pollination of litchi (Litchi chinensis) by insects with special reference to honey bees

ABSTRACT: Experiments were done in orchards near water canals, in the foothills and in a submontane area. The amount of fruit set in inflorescences open to insect visitors (0.71 to 11.25%) and in inflorescences caged against insects (0.026 to 0.105%) indicated that litchi is highly self-sterile, and that insect pollination is necessary for a fruit crop. Counts of insect visitors to the flowers showed that Apoidea (Apis spp. and Melipona spp.) comprised 98-99% of the total. Most visits were made between 6.30 am and midday, other authors have reported that dehiscence in litchi flowers mostly occurs between 7 am and midday.

AUTHOR: Pandey, R. S. and Yadava, R. P. S.

JOURNAL: Journal of Apicultural Research 9(2): 103-105 (1970).

4. TITLE: Preliminary report on the natural occurrence of insect pollinators in a litchi orchard

ABSTRACT: A survey of 2 litchi orchards revealed that many insects other than honey bees visited flowers (data tabulated) but that most of these were present in such low numbers that their influence as pollinators could be assumed to be negligible. The aggressive behaviour of honey bees also influenced visits by other insects.

AUTHOR: Eardley, C. D. and Mansell, M. W.

JOURNAL: Yearbook - South African Litchi Growers' Association (1994).

5. TITLE: Relative abundance of insect visitors on flowers of major tropical fruits in Himachal Pradesh and their effect on fruit set

ABSTRACT: A study was carried out at Jachh in 1992-93 to study the relative abundance of insect visitors on flowers of mango (Mangifera indica), litchi (Litchi chinensis) and Citrus spp. and their effects on fruit set. Of 34 insect species recorded on the flowers of loose-skinned mandarin (Citrus reticulata), maita (C. sinensis), kinnow mandarin (C. nobilis X C. deliciosa), mango and litchi, 15 were Diptera, 13 Hymenoptera, 4 Coleoptera and 1 each of Lepidoptera and Hemiptera. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) were the main pollinators of Citrus spp., Apis florea and hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus) on litchi and flies belonging to the family Calliphoridae on mango. Fruit set on bagged flowers was zero on mango, 0.88% and 0.98% on litchi and 20-60% on Citrus spp. For unbagged flowers, corresponding fruit sets were 4.32%, 2.14% and 2.48% and 60-76% respectively.

AUTHOR: Bhatia, R., Gupta, D., Chandel, J. S. and Sharma, N. K.

JOURNAL: Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 65(12): 907-912 (1995).

Page reviewed: March 2006