Pollination, Pollinators & Agriculture:Canadian international leadership, then
and now
Peter KevanCanadian Pollination Initiative University of Guelph, Ontario
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages
• Since the dawn of agriculture– Figs – Dates
Amos of the Old Testament was a fig-piercer (2800 BP)
Herodotus 2500 BP
Babylonian date pollination by hand 3700 BP
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages Canadian Stories
• Canadian Examples: Canadian Leadership– An Apple a Day – Alfalfa Seeds, Forage, and Leafcutting Bees– Blueberries, Bees, Business & Litigation– Tomatoes & Bumblebees in the Greenhouse– Pollinator Biocontrol Biovectoring– Honeybees, Beekeeping … Honey, we got problems!– Emerging problems & NSERC-CANPOLIN
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Apple
• Apple in the Canadian East
• Native bees (many species) & effective (J. Macoun 1923, 1924)
• Insecticides problematic, studies by W.H. Brittain and team (1928-1932) in Annapolis Valley, NS
• Solution
John Macoun
W. H. Brittain
• Honeybee husbandry• Hive-mounted pollen dispensers
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Apple
C. Jay, hive deployment studies in orchards
Nova Scotia Ag. College dispenser
R & D Needs for Pollination in Fruit Production
• R & D needs– Pollination needs (crosses between cultivars)– Pollinator behaviour– Orchard design– Pollinator diversification– Wild pollinators
Pollination needs: Breeding System
• Apples are self-incompatible between cultivars
• Within cultivars, cross pollination does NOT result in fruit set
McIntosh pollen
G. DeliciousIdared, Spy, etc.
McIntosh flower
Pollinator Behaviour: Pollen Pick-up & Delivery
Stigma touch/ Pollen collected ++++ Stigma touch/
Nectar collected +++
Stigma missed/ Nectar collected +/-
Stigma missed/ Anthers missed - -
Floral Form & Bee Behaviour
Mutsu – large gaps between filaments: bees can work from petals
Jona Gold – filaments tight together: bees have to work from top
Empire – filaments with small gaps
Pollination neighbourhoodMost pollen comes from within 20m of each tree
20m
Orchard Design: Gene Movement
Mixed pollens on one flower: better fruit-set
Some cultivars have “stud-pollen”; others have “wimp-pollen”
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages Canadian Stories – Alfalfa
• Alfalfa in the Canadian West
• F.W.L. Sladen (1918) advocated Megachile spp. for pollination• To the 1940s, system seemed effective (Salt 1940)• High productivity of alfalfa seed leads to expansion of fields• By 1950s, problems!
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories - Alfalfa
• Small fields merged into Huge fields, no Megachile nesting habitat, except around
edges
• Seed Yields drop: 1000 to 15 kg/ha (Stephen 1955)
• Solution
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories - Alfalfa
• Alfalfa leafcutting bee husbandry
• G. Hobbs, Lethbridge, AB (perfected by mid 1960s) Gordon Hobbs
Value of Leafcutter Bee Industry in Canada (ca. 2009)
• 50,000 bees per ha = over 2.0 Billion bee population in SK alone (75% of Canada’s alfalfa seed production)
• 13.5 Million kg seed/yr = $40 Million$25 Million/yr in exports
• Bees = 30+% of seed value = $15 - 20 Million
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories - Lowbush Blueberries
• Maritimes & Quebec• Canadian production – 300 Million kg/yr
• Exports = $323 Million
• Must be pollinated by bees– Buzz pollination– Wild bees (70+ species)– Honeybees
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Blueberries & the Forest
• Blueberry Pie Ecosystem & Pesticides– During Fenitrothion
• This example: New Brunswick• Other similar examples:
Quebec, Ontario
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Blueberries & the Forest
New Brunswick’s Blueberries, Bees, & Pesticide Story
Crop loss ≈ 0.7 million kg/year !
Fenitrothion
• Solutions– Litigation– Restraining orders– More science• Other pesticides• Other pollinators• Other plants• Other places
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Blueberries & the Forest
Disrupted ecosystem function
Reduced pollinator diversity and abundance
Reduced fruit / seed set
Kevan & Plowright, 1970 -
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – The Forest
• Solution – Tighter control on forest pesticide use– More emphasis on biocontrol– Recognition of pollinators in forest ecosystem
function
New Brunswick blueberry story was at the start of a major trend in pollinator
conservation worldwide
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Greenhouse Tomatoes
• Still air
• Hand pollination– Labour costs $$$–Reliability–Timing
• Solution
Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canadian Stories – Greenhouse Tomatoes
• Bumblebee culture MB Plowright & Jay 1966
ON Kevan et al. 1991 BC Dogterom 1998 ON Morandin et al. 2001- 2 BC Winston team 2003-4
Value of Greenhouse Tomato Production (ca. 2009)
• 736 Acres in Ontario (75% of Canadian production)• $290 Million/year• Bumblebees @ 2 colonies/acre/month for 10 months
– 20 colonies @ $200 each/acre/year– $3.7 Million/year in Canada
Pollinator Biocontrol Biovectoring• Pollinators carry microorganisms (pollen incl.)• Can Biocontrol agents be carried by
pollinators?• Yes!– Entomopathogens of crop pest insects• Lygus, thrips, aphids, whitefly, moths, beetles
– Fungal antagonists to plant pathogens• Grey mould, mummy berry, Schlerotinia, Rhizopus, Phomopsis
Greenhouse Experimental set up
Each bumble bee hive was equipped with an inoculum dispenser.
Inoculum was placed inside a removable tray.
Greenhouse results: Lygus mortality though bee vectored
Beauvaria
TPB mortality
0
10
20
30
40
50
1st 2nd Sampling date
% M
orta
lity
B. Bassiana + bumble bees Bumble bees only No treatment
Clonostachys on Blueberry Pollinating Bumblebees for Mummyberry & Greymould
control
PEI Organic/Pesticide- free Blueberry Farm, 2009 – 2012 trials
Value of Honeybees for Crop Pollination (ca. 2009)
• Est. value = $1.3 to $1.7 Billion annually in Canada– 300,000 colonies for hybrid canola seed– 35,000 colonies for blueberries– 15,000 colonies for fruit trees– @ average $120/ colony = $42 Million in hive
rentals/year
• Honey = $110 Million/year (28 Million kg)
Initiatives on Pollination & Pollinator Shortages:Canada at the Forefront
• NRCanada (1981) Pesticide Pollinator Interactions
• AgCanada (1989) National Workshop, Winnipeg
• ESC (1997) Pollinators & Mother Earth
• Canadian participation in International & US meetings (1992, 1995-2012)
• US NRC (2007) Status of Pollinators in North America
Recent Canadian Initiatives
• CPPI – January, 2007 in Ottawa• CANPOLIN – NSERC Strategic Network Proposal: submitted February 2008 ($5 million)
• City of Guelph Pollination Park 7 March 2008• CPPI – Urban pollination, 8 March 2008• National Wildlife Week, 30 April 2008• Pollinator Conservation in Practice, 13 Nov. 2009
Funded Oct. 2008!