Stingless bee species found by Nagaland University researchers may boost crop yield, quality

Kohima, May 26 (IANS) Nagaland University researchers have identified stingless bee species that can be used to increase agricultural yield through pollination, researchers and officials said on Monday.

Varsity officials said that with the introduction of stingless bees as pollinators in different crops under greenhouse conditions, the yield and quality of produce increased several times in different crops.

According to the researchers, Stingless bees could be used for pollination without fear of being stung, and they are known for their popular medicinal honey and pollination potential, which paves the way for the formulation of crop pollination calendars to benefit all stakeholders.

The honey produced by the bees during the experiments also provided extra income besides good crop production, they said.

Nagaland University researchers found that the chilli crop, when pollinated by these bees, increases the crop production and quality as compared to crops where pollination is not accomplished.

For supplementing the pollination deficit in chilli, stingless bees and honeybee species like A dorsata, A florea, and other wild bees like halictid bees, syrphid bees and Amegilla bees need to be conserved. In king chilli, the fruit set increased to 29.46 per cent compared to 21.00 per cent in non-pollinated crops.

Likewise, in Chilli (Capsicum annuum), the fruit set and healthy fruits were increased by 7.42 per cent and 7.92 per cent over non-pollinated crops.

Similarly, seed weight, which is an indicator of viability or germination, increased by 60.74 per cent when pollinated by stingless bees. This is the maiden attempt to work out the pollination potential of stingless bees and the quality production of honey, which led to increased income and sustainable livelihood.

Earlier, it was difficult to use honeybees for the pollination of crops (inadequate pollination) due to their natural attributes. This Research was led by Dr. Avinash Chauhan, Scientist and Principal Investigator (AICRP Honeybees and Pollinators), Department of Entomology, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University.

The findings of his team have been published in several reputable, peer-reviewed journals. Elaborating on this research, Dr Chauhan said: “The research outcomes of the last seven to ten years provided the different stakeholders with lots of opportunities to rear the stingless bees for quality honey production without fear of mixing of impurities in honey and minimising bee losses, which led to more profitability in this profession. We are still working to improve the beekeeping rearing techniques and to promote Scientific beekeeping with honey bees and stingless bees for better honey production and pollination of crops. The focus is also to raise awareness among the people for the conservation of other wild honey bees and pollinators.”

Speaking about the next steps in this research, he said that the crops which are less known (passion fruit, Solanum spp., Chow Chowetc) but geographically important will be taken for future studies.

“Focus will also be given on extraction techniques for honey produced by stingless bees. The medicinal properties of the honey will also be worked out by proper analysis and mellisopalynological studies,” Dr Chauhan said.

The present research was focused on developing the utilisation of stingless bees of genus Tetragonula spp. and Lepidotrigona spp. for the pollination of crops like cucumber, chilli, king chilli, ash-gourd, watermelon, citrus, tomato, pumpkin, brinjal and dragon fruit, etc.

The stingless bee colonies extracted from the forests and field areas, as per the available methods, were multiplied scientifically to attain sufficient numbers of bee colonies for their utilisation as pollinators for crops under confined conditions.

Besides these, their potential as pollinators on Mango, Guava, Rhus, Gooseberry and Ber, etc, was also observed and recorded.

The University researchers said that stingless bees are reported from northeast India, eastern India and southern Indian states, with recent additions from north, central and western Indian states.

Unlike all the states where stingless bee rearing is still in nascent stages in the northeastern and southern states, the stingless bees are reared in the traditional manner in homestead apiaries.

However, in the last 7-10 years, the scientific domestication of these bees involving the development of scientific hives and mass multiplication of stingless bee colonies using queen cells has been achieved in Nagaland and is extended to other states like Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

This development led to the easy multiplication of these bees for pollination and other bee products. The farmers and other stakeholders can place their stingless bee colonies for pollination of crops under open field conditions and greenhouse conditions, leading to better crop yield and quality production of crops.

–IANS

sc/dan