The foraging behaviour of honeybees on ornamental Malus spp. used as pollinizers in apple orchards.
Abstract
The flowers of 3 ornamental Malus spp. (M. aldenhamensis, M. floribunda cv. Hillierii and M. cv. Golden Hornet) and of cvs Cox's Orange Pippin, Worcester Pearmain and Lord Lambourne were all equally attractive to honeybees. The numbers of bees visiting each sp. or cv. was correlated with the abundance of its flowers. In a Cox orchard with ornamental Malus spp. grafted into the trees, honeybees tended to remain constant to the species on which they were first seen. However, a higher proportion of bees interchanged between Cox and Malus flowers on the rows with M. floribunda cv. Hillierii and M. cv. Golden Hornet grafts than they did on rows grafted with M. aldenhamensis.