by Jon Wolf. Presented at the 2012 MN Statewide High Tunnel Conference

1. Enhancing Production & Quality with
Bumblebees in High Tunnels

2. The Inevitable Comparison

3. Let’s Compare Two Other Animals
Mammals
Nurse their young
Live in family groups
Four legs
Eat vegetation
Both like peanuts

4. PRACTICAL COMPARISON
Bumblebee Honeybee
Forage heaviest in Forage heaviest
morning and evening during mid-day
Almost always collect Almost always collect
Pollen and Nectar only Nectar
Sonicate Do Not Sonicate
Forage in Wind and Warm Sunny
Rain, under high Weather, do not work
tunnels and well under plastic
greenhouses Attracted to flowers
Attracted to most with high nectar
flowers yields

5. Navigating under plastic
Bumblebees and Honeybees both see in the ultraviolet
spectrum. The reason that bumblebees can forage
successfully under plastic that refracts UV light, is that
they use landmarks for navigation.

6. Sonication (Buzz Pollination)
• Bumblebees land on the flower, pulling it down until
the anther is vertical (getting gravity’s help) then
they vibrate their wing muscles. The vibration causes
the flower to resonate, and grains of pollen are
shaken loose. This drops onto the bee’s body and is
available for cross pollination when she visits a flower
on another plant.
• On a hermaphrodite flower much of it will bounce
right back up to the sticky stigma.
• The development of the fleshy part of the fruit is
stimulated by the fertilization of the seeds. So if bees
are not present and only a few grains of pollen are
delivered, fruit may form, but will not size up.
• When enough grains of pollen are delivered to fertilize
most of the seeds, the fruit will develop to be all that
it can be.

7. Bumblebee Lifecycle

8. Bumblebee Hive Lifecycle

9. Why do we need bumblebees in
a high tunnel?
 Proper pollination
 Proper fruit set
 Proper fruit development
 Higher yields
 MORE PROFIT

10. What are the symptoms of improper
pollination in your High Tunnel?

11. Strawberry

12. Strawberry

13. Strawberry

14. Tomato

15. Tomato

16. Tomato

17. Pepper

18. Cucumber

19. Cucumber

20. Cucumber

21. Zucchini

22. Zucchini

23. How Do We Use Bumblebees in High
Tunnels?

24. How Many Hive do I use
in my High Tunnels
Recommended rate
of input is one “Class
C” bumblebee hive
per 5000 square feet
or less
Each “Class C” hive
should last between
four to six weeks
For crops blooming more than five weeks it is
recommended to order a second hive to arrive
after the fourth week

25. Best Practice for Placement of Hives
in High Tunnels
Place the hive in the middle
of the tunnel
Place the hive where it will
be visible in spite of high
crop leaf densities
The entrance to the hive
must be clearly visible for
the bumblebees
Place the hive
horizontally, which is
important for the sugar

26. Opening the Hive

27. How do your tell if your Flowers are
Pollinated Properly
• For most crops you will have to trust in your
bumblebees and observe fruit set and wait until
harvest to see the fruits of their labor
• Tomatoes are a different story…

28. Bumblebee Bite Marks on
Tomato Blossoms

29. Can Bumblebees Over-Pollinate
• When too many bite marks are observed a flower
suffers from over-pollinaton. It means that the
flowers have been visited too many times by foraging
bumblebees.

30. What’s the Downside
to Over-Pollination?
• The downside of over-pollination is that it negatively
affects the health and longevity of your bumblebee
hive
• Over-pollination can be minimized by feeding your
hive supplementary pollen available from Koppert

31. North America’s Perfect Pollinator

32. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
John Wolf
Pollination Specialist
Koppert Biological Systems
jpwolf@koppertonline
734-776-6514 CELL
800-928-8827 OFFICE