1994/01/01 by Tim A. Heard, Timothy A Heard · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Insect and Pesticide Research #Plant and animal studies
paper · doi:10.1080/00218839.1994.11100870
crossref issued 1994/01/01 · crossref published 1994/01/01 · crossref published-print 1994/01/01 · openalex publication_date 1994/01/01 · crossref published-online 2015/03/24 · crossref created 2016/06/29 · crossref deposited 2023/08/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
SUMMARYBehavioural observations and experiments on pollinator efficiency of stingless bees, Trigona carbonaria, and honey bees, Apis mellifera, visiting flowers of macadamia, Macadamia integrifolia, growing in orchards in Australia were performed. Stingless bees mainly collected pollen and this activity resulted in intimate contact with the stigma. Honey bees mainly collected nectar and came into contact with the stigma less often. Racemes which were enclosed in cages which excluded honey bees but allowed visitation by the smaller stingless bees yielded a nut set equal to that on open-pollinated racemes, showing that these bees are efficient pollinators. Honey bees worked flowers more quickly than stingless bees, visiting more flowers in a given time. Both bee species responded to racemes rich in pollen and nectar by remaining longer at those racemes and visiting more flowers on them.