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Bumblebees improve yield in avocado orchards
Biobest has just announced the results of their avocado trials. After more than 35 years of supporting fruit and vegetable growers, Biobest has now demonstrated that bumblebee pollination can also be a solution for the complex pollination issues in avocado production.
“Avocado growers face the challenge of ensuring their orchards are properly pollinated for adequate fruit set,” said Jorden van de Walle, Product Manager Pollination at Biobest. “Our bumblebee hives provide a practical, proven way to boost fruit production even in tough conditions. They are not as easily distracted, fly longer hours every day and fly better in more adverse weather conditions.”
Avocado flowers need to be pollinated by an insect, and avocado flowers only open twice, once to expose the female parts of the flower, and then another time to expose the pollen. The overabundance of flowers attracts pollinators to trees, where honey bees and wasps come to drink nectar and pollinate. However, these insect pollinators don’t have a high preference for avocado flowers and are more easily distracted by attractive flowers in the vicinity of the avocado orchard.
Field trials in Spain and Turkey that were conducted in coordination with Universities show that bumblebee hives consistently increase yield with 30–50%, without reducing average fruit size. In some cases, trees near bumblebee hives yielded over twice as many fruits as trees farther away.
“A 30% yield increase can translate to an additional 7–20 tons of fruit per hectare,” said Jorden. “For growers, that’s a significant improvement and a true game-changer.”
Growers sometimes worry they don’t see the bumblebees actively working in the trees. However, even just the presence of bumblebees in the orchard leads to better fruit production. One of the reasons it works so well in the field is because of the competition; the more pollinators are active on the flowers, the more likely that competing pollinators will want to move onto those trees,” Jorden said.
Figure 3: Trial results Turkey
Biobest recommends placing 8–12 hives per hectare, distributed evenly throughout the orchard for maximum coverage. With strategic hive placement and reliable pollination even in cool weather, bumblebees are proving to be an essential ally for avocado growers.
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