STUDIES ON THE BEE POLLINATION OF PEACH AND NECTARINE

Flower shape and relative position of anthers and another flower structures definitely affects bee behaviour. Bees are more effective as pollinating agents on cultivars with rosaceous flowers than with campanulate ones. Several flower features, however, are more variable in different years than differences between cultivars or groups of cultivars in given years. These are: types of pistils, anther size, pollen size, nectar and pollen production. However, peaches and nectarines produce notable amount of both nectar and pollen to attract great number of bees to blooming trees. Fertilization from free pollination of flowers intensively visited by bees is always much greater than on caged ones without bees.