Part of UKCEH UKCEH logo
UKCEH website
Woodcock, B.A.; Pywell, R.F.

Pollination of tomatoes by the bees Bombus terrestris and Lasioglossum spp.

Download/Access
PLEASE NOTE: By accessing or using this dataset, you agree to the terms of the relevant licence agreement(s). You will ensure that this dataset is cited in any publication that describes research in which the data have been used.

This dataset is made available under the terms of the Open Government Licence

Download the data
https://doi.org/10.5285/94925db4-eeeb-4f3d-ae19-42a3380636e5
This dataset describes an experimental test of potential over yielding effects on fruit set and average fruit size for tomato plants grown in the presence of three pollinator combinations: (1) the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (2) Lasioglossum spp. and (3) and additive combination of B. terrestris and Lasioglossum spp.

The experimental design includes no pollinator controls nested within individual tomato plants exposed to the above pollinator species treatment combinations. This research was undertaken in 2017 and funded though a UKCEH Commercial Innovation Fund (National Capability) project supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council (Project NEC06344).
Publication date: 2018-08-30
48 downloads *
862 views *

More information

View numbers valid from 01 June 2023 Download numbers valid from 20 June 2024 (information prior to this was not collected)

Format

Comma-separated values (CSV)

Spatial information

Study area
Spatial representation type
Tabular (text)
Spatial reference system
WGS 84

Temporal information

Temporal extent
2017-04-01    to    2017-06-30

Provenance & quality

Three treatment combinations of bee pollinators foraging on tomatoes were compared:
1) B. terrestris alone (a single 30-40 worker colony);
2) Lasioglossum spp. alone, predominantly malachurum but with some pauxillum);
3) a combination of B. terrestris (a single 30-40 worker colony) and Lasioglossum spp..

All experiments were undertaken under field conditions within three, 2 x 3 m net cages designed to hold free flying bees. B. terrestris colonies were obtained as commercially available stock (Biobest Ltd) but there is no equivalent for Lasioglossum spp.. To address this resident populations of L. malachurum and L. pauxillum were identified. These were found on bare and compacted soil oil of arable field corners. Over populations of Lasioglossum spp. two net cages were established, with a third in close proximity although not covering populations of the Lasioglossum spp.. Into this latter cage a B. terrestris colony (30-40 workers) was established. A further B. terrestris colony (30-40 workers) was allowed to forage in one of the cages covering Lasioglossum nests (Treatment 3), while the other was left without such a colony (Treatment 2). Population density of Lasioglossum in both cages was broadly equivalent, with c. 4.2 (± 0.8) nest borrows m-2. Treatment combinations were additive in terms of bee density reflecting likely practice under greenhouse growing conditions. Nets were only positioned over supporting cages on days when the experiment was being undertaken, to prevent starving of wild Lasioglossum populations.

As tomato plants produce no nectar it was necessary to cage a small quantity of Asteraceae garden plants to provide a nectar source for the bees. Experimental tomato plants (var. 'Moneymaker') were established under controlled greenhouse conditions where pollinators were excluded and were translocated to the experimental site when they had multiple flowering stems. Assessments were restricted to the first five mature flowers on each stem; subsequent flowers were removed. On each plant two flowering stems were selected, one was left open to pollination in the cages with treatments 1-3, the other was treated as a control and covered in a small net bag to prevent access by pollinators. Batches of five plants were placed in each of the three cages for a four-day period, with this repeated four times. After each period of exposure all plants were returned to greenhouse conditions and left to mature. When tomatoes had reached the same point of maturation (deep red colour) the number of fruits produced was counted (out of a maximum of five per stem) and the individual mass of each fruit was determined.

Licensing and constraints

This dataset is made available under the terms of the Open Government Licence

Cite this dataset as:
Woodcock, B.A.; Pywell, R.F. (2018). Pollination of tomatoes by the bees Bombus terrestris and Lasioglossum spp.. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/94925db4-eeeb-4f3d-ae19-42a3380636e5

© UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Correspondence/contact details

Dr. Ben Woodcock
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford
Wallingford
Oxfordshire
OX10 8BB
UNITED KINGDOM
 enquiries@ceh.ac.uk

Authors

Woodcock, B.A.
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Pywell, R.F.
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Other contacts

Rights holder
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk
Publisher
NERC Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk

Additional metadata

Topic categories
biota
environment
farming
INSPIRE theme
Environmental Monitoring Facilities
Keywords
Agriculture , bees , Biodiversity , Bombus terrestris , bumblebee , Environmental risk , Lasioglossum malachurum , Lasioglossum pauxillum , Pollinators
Funding
Natural Environment Research Council Award: Project NEC06344
Last updated
30 October 2024 08:35