FEEDING SUGAR SYRUP TO HONEY BEE COLONIES TO IMPROVE KIWIFRUIT POLLEN COLLECTION: A REVIEW

Trials conducted over 4 seasons in 7 orchards using 379 colonies indicated that feeding sugar syrup to honey bee colonies increases their collection of kiwifruit pollen. Syrup feeding resulted in increases in the amount of kiwifruit pollen collected of up to 7.9 times over the whole flowering season, with daily increases of up to 43.6 times. The time of day, frequency and method of feeding was tested together with the volume, concentration and grade of sugar syrup. Of the 12 methods tested, only the feeding of dry sugar did not result in a significant increase in the amount of kiwifruit pollen collected for at least part of the flowering season. Feeding colonies 1 l per day between 0800 and 1000h consistently resulted in the greatest amounts of pollen collected, although 3 l every three days also produced acceptable results. Syrup feeding increased the amount of kiwifruit pollen collected even when there were significant levels of competition from other flowers around the orchard. Syrup feeding had no effect on the colonies' floral sex constancy as ascertained by examination the foragers' pollen loads.