Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Utilization of Bumblebee in Crop Pollination

Gadhiya V. C., Kanani M. K., Dodiya T. P., Pastagia J. J.

Asian Research Journal of Agriculture · pp. 49–53 · Published 11 Mar 2024

10.9734/arja/2024/v17i2420

Abstract

Bumblebees play a vital role in pollination of plants due to their large size and hairiness hence are ideal for picking up and transferring pollen. They can vibrate (‘buzz’) flowers and have no communication system but can work efficiently in tunnels as they have a better sense of direction. They are 400 times more efficient than honeybees at any pollination chore and are capable of visiting 30 to 50 flowers per minute. They are non-swarming and less aggressive than honeybees. Bumblebee generally forages during the early morning (0530-0800h) and evening (1700-1900h) time. Bumblebees are better pollinators than honeybees in greenhouses and glass houses and they have a great potential to serve as supplemental pollinators in the cultivation of crops such as tomato, eggplant, cucumber, melon, strawberry, pumpkin, cherry, sweet pepper, etc. It improves the yield and quality parameters of the fruits. In India, efforts are being made at Solan to mass rear bumble bees and utilize them in pollination. A few private companies have attempted to introduce newer species of bumblebees in India. In the present era, the global population of bumblebees is declining due to injudicious use of pesticides, loss of natural colony and mechanization in agriculture and climatic effect.

Bumblebees pollinator foraging behavior

References (11)

  1. 1 Quality fruit improvement in sweet pepper culture by bumblebee pollination [DOI]
  2. 2 Pollination of Greenhouse Tomatoes by the North American Bombus vosnesenskii (Hymenoptera: Apidae) [DOI]
  3. 3 Effect of bumble bee pollination on greenhouse strawberry production [DOI]
  4. 4 Effectiveness of Bumblebee Pollination in Anti-Frost Heated Tomato Greenhouses in the Mediterranean Basin*
  5. 5 EFFICIENCY OF BUMBLE BEES ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF EGGPLANT AND TOMATO GROWN IN UNHEATED GLASSHOUSES [DOI]
  6. 6 Using Commercial Bumble Bee Colonies as Backup Pollinators for Honey Bees to Produce Cucumbers and Watermelons [DOI]
  7. 7 EFFECTIVENESS OF BUMBLE BEES AS POLLINATORS FOR EGGPLANTS GROWN IN UNHEATED GREENHOUSES [DOI]
  8. 8 EFFECTS OF POLLINATION OF STRAWBERRIES GROWN IN PLASTIC GREENHOUSES BY HONEYBEES AND BUMBLEBEES ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF THE FRUITS [DOI]
  9. 9 POLLEN PRODUCTION AND QUALITY OF PEPPER GROWN IN UNHEATED GREENHOUSES DURING WINTER AND THE EFFECTS OF BUMBLEBEES (BOMBUS TERRESTRIS) POLLINATION ON FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY [DOI]
  10. 10 Ethological studies on bumble bees under subtropical conditions in India
  11. 11 STUDIES ON PESTS AND DISEASES OF BUMBLE BEE(BOMBUS HAEMORRHOIDALIS SMITH) IN INDIA

Cited by 4

Advancing Sustainable Agriculture Through Bumblebee Pollination: Bibliometric Insights and Future Directions

Mei Bie, Kai Song, He Dong · Sustainability · 2025

Showing 1 of 4 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

31

Page views

0

PDF downloads

4

Outbound clicks

4

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.