Sometimes even well known names can be plain misleading, rather like the Koala Bear (which isn’t a bear) or, stepping beyond nature, the Hundred Years War (which lasted 116 years). Why was the apple bumble bee so named? That may be lost in time. We can’t always take a species name as definitive or too literally. This was a first for this species, although it could be that rather than expanding its range it had simply gone unnoticed previously. That said there was interesting news recently when two specimens were collected in Siberia. Additionally, the species is considered to be at risk due to the threat of climate change. Unlikely to be found near the coast, it is fond of flowers such as thistles, and as agriculture continues to intensify, and so-called weeds are marginalised, it is now viewed as being in an unfavourable or vulnerable condition within its current range. It hasn’t been recorded in Denmark, Spain, or Belgium in recent years. The 400 th anniversary of the printing of the first book in the Baltic state was one, two bumble bees which featured on their red list – one being the apple bumble bee – were also of sufficient national interest to feature.īombus pomorum has seen its range alter on the continent. In 1999 Lithuania marked several important events on postage stamps. As things stand you need to visit central and eastern Europe to catch a glimpse. Given the long-standing and very efficient history of studying bumble bees on these shores it would hardly be missed. We can surmise with some confidence that this isn’t down to under-recording. And whilst he reckons the sightings likely to be genuine, given the stature of the recorder and the existence of specimens, no further records have been confirmed in the 150 plus years since. The four specimens known were, he explains, found on the dunes near Deal (Kent) in 1865. The apple bumble bee ( Bombus pomorum) © Picto Sauvignet louis didier, Wikipedia Creative Commonsĭave Goulson’s highly regarded and hugely enjoyable ‘ A Sting in the Tale’ makes reference to the apple bumble bee as maybe having never been resident in the UK. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s website records sightings on the south coast in the mid-1800s, whilst the equally highly-reputable NBN Atlas, which holds more than 198 million UK species records, has only two mentions for the apple bumble bee. Yield seems to be a more reliable criterion than fruit set when evaluating the sensitivity of cultivated plant species or cultivars to the limitation of the duration of the bee pollination period.Given the popularity of apples in Britain you could be forgiven for expecting the apple bumble bee ( Bombus pomorum) to be one of the species found here. In 1 self-sterile plum cultivar, however, moderate limitation was not of significant influence but strong or complete limitation again resulted in a strong reduction of yield.Īs found for sour cherry self-fertile cultivars can be sensitive to very strong or complete limitation of bee pollination, but other self-fertile crops or cultivars hardly respond or don't respond at all to the limitation of bee pollination (e.g. Limitation resulted in a strong reduction for apple cultivars and for 1 self-sterile sour cherry cultivar even if bee pollination was prevented from the 5–6th day after the onset of blooming only. In self-sterile apple, plum and sour cherry cultivars even partial limitation of the duration of the bee pollination period significantly reduced fruit set and yield. ISHS Acta Horticulturae 423: II Workshop on Pollination FRUIT SET OF SELECTED SELF-STERILE AND SELF-FERTILE FRUIT CULTIVARS AS AFFECTED BY THE DURATION OF INSECT POLLINATIONĪpple, bee pollination, plum, sour cherry, yield FRUIT SET OF SELECTED SELF-STERILE AND SELF-FERTILE FRUIT CULTIVARS AS AFFECTED BY THE DURATION OF INSECT POLLINATION
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