Pollination by bees of tomatoes
Significant areas in greenhouses are used for growing tomatoes. Less common are peppers, aubergines and other crops.
Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants belong to the family of Solanaceae, come from hot tropical countries (tomatoes and peppers are from South America, eggplants are from India). All these are self-pollinated plants, but in the south they are partly pollinated crosswise.
Generative organs of the tomato flower are fused into a tube of 5-7 stamens, in the middle of which is a pestle. Pollen of tomatoes is heavy sticky and poured out from the anthers badly. In greenhouse conditions, due to low light, overheating, as well as in violation of agricultural technology associated with a lack of moisture and nutrition, the flower pestle is strongly stretched, and its stigma exceeds the height of the stamens. In this case, self-pollination of the flower is impossible. In addition, in the greenhouses there is no wind, which produces pollen in the open ground. Therefore, the pollination is carried out manually by the hothouses.
In the greenhouse farms of our country and the United States, in order to increase the yield of tomatoes, electric vibrators are used that promote the precipitation of pollen on the flower pestle. In this case, flowers with pestle above the stamens can not be pollinated.
To accelerate the tying of tomato fruit in the sovkhozes outside Moscow, a plant growth stimulant, 2, 4, 5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid sodium salt (TU preparation) in 0.005% concentration (50 mg per liter of water) was used. Thanks to this, the preparation of the ovaries on the plant becomes larger, but the shape of the fruit usually worsens, the tomatoes become seedless, sometimes with voids inside.
Along with the treatment of plants with the TU for the pollination of plants, bees were used. Harvest in the experimental greenhouse in comparison with the control rose by 0.7-0.9 kg
When bee-pollination cross-pollination occurs, as a result of which the shape of the fruits improves, they become larger, the voids disappear, and the number of seeds increases.
It should be assumed that during the bee-dusting of several varieties of tomatoes in one greenhouse, the effect of heterosis (obtaining larger and better fruits in comparison with bees that are not pollinated by bees) will greatly increase; in this – a large reserve of increasing the yield and quality of the fruit.
It is known that tomato flowers do not have nectar, attracting bees. The smell of tomato bees and many other insects do not like. And despite this, they make their flights to the flowers of tomatoes without difficulty. Especially well worked on tomato flowers are bee colonies, used earlier for pollination of cucumbers and having a significant amount of brood, and then transferred to a greenhouse with blooming tomatoes. At the same time, bees were given 50-70 g of sugar syrup, which was infused on tomato flowers.
Good results are obtained when several green cucumber plants bloom in the greenhouse simultaneously with tomatoes. The bees are already accustomed to working on cucumbers and, if simultaneously apply flavored syrup on the flowers of cucumbers and tomatoes, the bees, having collected it from the flowers of cucumbers, switch to collecting pollen from tomatoes.
In our practice, without much effort on the part of the beekeeper, the bees were switched to pollination of tomatoes. Only in a few cases was the delay with the flight of bees to tomatoes. Perhaps, this depended on the lack of open brood in the nest. To speed up the work of bees on tomatoes in the morning from the nest, we extracted perga. Bees, experiencing hunger pervish, were forced to submit to the will of the beekeeper and begin to visit the flowers of tomatoes to replenish the lack of pollen.
As soon as the bees began to collect the pollen, the seized pengu was immediately returned to the place. If this is not done in time, then a significant number of brood (especially eggs and little-aged larvae) may die or be eaten by bees. In addition, bees, experiencing protein starvation, can at this point gnaw yet not ripe pollen, which can reduce crop yield.
To collect pollen from tomato blossoms, a much larger number of bees flies in comparison with the cucumber culture. This is probably explained by the large number of tomato flowers in the period of their mass flowering. However, it must be borne in mind that bees stop working on tomato flowers in spring greenhouses, when it becomes possible to work outside of it. Therefore, to grow tomatoes so that their mass flowering was somewhat earlier than the beginning of flowering of plants in the open ground outside the greenhouses, or coincided with cooling, when bees are not diverted to other flowering plants. In other cases, it is possible to force the bees to pollute tomatoes only when they completely stop their migration from the greenhouses, by weeding all the transoms and then applying the training.
Less willing bees, especially the last and carpets, visit tomato flowers in autumn. This is explained by the fact that the breeds of these bees early stop growing brood, and in its absence, bees become passive.
The best results in the pollination of tomatoes in autumn we achieved with the use of gray mountain Caucasian and Italian breeds of bees and their hybrids, especially with young uterus.
Eggplants are the favorite vegetables of the population, they are more demanding for growing conditions than tomatoes, are thermophilic and have a longer growing season. The northern boundary of aubergine cultivation in the open ground in our country coincides with the border, the cultivation of watermelons. In the central regions the eggplants are grown only in greenhouses and in sheltered ground. Especially they are demanding of soil moisture. In the conditions of greenhouses, where in the winter time there is no possibility to ventilate them, the humidity of the air considerably increases. Because of this self-pollination of aubergines and, to some extent, peppers, is difficult. The mass of buds, especially on eggplant, disappears. The resulting ovary develops poorly.
Pepper is less demanding for heat, with a shorter growth period of vegetation.
When bee pollination of eggplants and peppers, all the ovaries develop together, the growth of the fetuses is faster than in self-pollination. The size increases and the appearance of the fruit improves. Bees are willing to go to their flowers without training.
In less quantity, watermelons, pumpkins, melons, strawberries, strawberries, etc. are grown in greenhouses. All these bee cultures are eagerly visited and thereby significantly increase their yield.
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