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Bumble Bees and Entomovectoring in Open Field Conditions

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Book cover Entomovectoring for Precision Biocontrol and Enhanced Pollination of Crops

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Abstract

This chapter describes the efficiency of bumble bees as biocontrol agents and also, which factors should be taken into account when, using them. Bumble bee mediated biocontrol of grey mould (Botrytis cinerea Pers.:Fr.) decreased the infection up to three times in open field strawberry. The presence of other flower visitors foraging on strawberry aid the dissemination of BCAs. The open conditions set some obstacles, which must be overcome. The flowering stage of target crop and availability of alternative food sources affect the bumble bee foraging. Knowing the bumble bee foraging behaviour helps to find out right solutions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Riin Muljar, Gerit Dreyersdorff, Anna Bontšutšnaja and other students for their assistance throughout the field work periods. This research was supported by the EU-ERANET activity of the CORE Organic Programme II project BICOPOLL, the Institutional Research Funding (IUT36-2) of the Estonian Ministry of Education and the Department Agriculture, and Fisheries of the Flemish government and the Flemish Research Organization IWT-Flanders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

    Marika Mänd

  2. Chair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

    Reet Karise

  3. Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Guy Smagghe

Authors
  1. Marika Mänd
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  2. Reet Karise
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  3. Guy Smagghe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marika Mänd .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Guy Smagghe

  2. Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Institute for Apiculture, Celle, Germany

    Otto Boecking

  3. Centro Agricoltura Ambiente “Giorgio Nicoli”, Crevalcore, Bologna, Italy

    Bettina Maccagnani

  4. Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

    Marika Mänd

  5. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Peter G. Kevan

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Mänd, M., Karise, R., Smagghe, G. (2020). Bumble Bees and Entomovectoring in Open Field Conditions. In: Smagghe, G., Boecking, O., Maccagnani, B., Mänd, M., Kevan, P. (eds) Entomovectoring for Precision Biocontrol and Enhanced Pollination of Crops. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18917-4_5

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