Wind and honey bee pollination of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis ‘HORT16A’)

Author： Goodwin RM McBrydie HM Taylor MA

ISSN： 0028-825X

Source： New Zealand Journal of Botany, Vol.51, Iss.3, 2013-09, pp. : 229-240

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the factors required to pollinate ‘Hort16A’ (Actinidia chinensis Planch. var. chinensis) kiwifruit. Pistillate flowers (88%) opened between 0500 and 1200 h. There was no indication of nectar production or viable pollen on pistillate flowers. Stigma receptivity peaked on the second day after anthesis and then declined. Excluding honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) significantly (p<0.05) reduced fruit set and seed number. Flowers exposed to wind pollination for 5 days produced fruit with an average of 110 seeds. When equal numbers of staminate and pistillate flowers were presented on a tray, only 2.8% of visits were to staminate ‘Sparkler’ flowers and 2.2% to staminate ‘Meteor’ flowers. Single bee visits to pistillate flowers produced averages of 51–61.7 seeds. The percentage of staminate pollen carried by honey bees significantly decreased with increasing distance from staminate vines (0.8%/m). Average seed number decreased by 0.75%/m.