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Date: | Fri, 21 Jun 2002 11:01:47 -0400 |
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Inger Lamb said:
> I live in Iowa, USA, where we plant 11 million acres in
> soybeans per year, almost a third of our total area.
> I have read that some data indicate bees pollinate beans,
> and in so doing increase yields, but apparently there is
> some uncertainty about this. Can anyone fill me in?
McGregor has a chapter on soybeans, you can read it
online:
http://bee.airoot.com/beeculture/book/chap4/soy.html
It says, in part:
The anthers dehisce before the flower opens
so that the stigma is in contact with and receptive
to the pollen on the anthers. Pollination and
fertilization is usually accomplished before the
flower opens.
The soybean is considered to be self-fertile and not
benefited by insect pollination (Morse and Cartter 1937,
Rubis 1970). Although there is no experimental evidence
to support them, some soybean growers in Arkansas have
indicated that bees increase production of beans, and they
encourage the presence of apiaries near their fields.
Tests with plants caged to exclude bees have shown no
decrease in production over exposed plots (Woodhouse and
Taylor 1913, Milum 1940, Piper and Morse 1910).
Culter (1934) obtained an estimated 5 percent cross-pollination
in open plots surrounded by 36-inch cheesecloth fences with an
apiary nearby. Gordienko (1960) used honey bees in cages with
two cultivars of soybeans. He fed the bees a scented sirup to
stimulate the floral visitation and obtained 29 percent hybrids on
one cultivar and 44 percent on the other.
I guess the bottom line is that soybeans may be an opportunity for
a honey crop, but not for a pollination fee unless the grower feels
the need for bees as "insurance".
jim
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