Managed Africanized honey bees and native stingless bees increase Arabica coffee yields in southeastern Brazil.
Abstract: Using managed pollinators to supplement the contributions of wild pollinators is a promising means to increase crop production and rural livelihoods sustainably. However, evidence of the efficacy of managed pollinators must be provided for many crops, especially in tropical regions. Herein...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Institución: | Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa) |
| Repositorio: | Repositório Institucional da EMBRAPA (Repository Open Access to Scientific Information from EMBRAPA - Alice) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br:doc/1176761 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/1176761 https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-992x-2023-0049 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Abelha Africana Apis Mellifera Polinização Abelha Brasileira Café Africanized honey bees Stingless bees Insect pollination Alternative pollinators Crop production Coffea Meliponiculture |
| Sumario: | Abstract: Using managed pollinators to supplement the contributions of wild pollinators is a promising means to increase crop production and rural livelihoods sustainably. However, evidence of the efficacy of managed pollinators must be provided for many crops, especially in tropical regions. Herein, we introduced managed colonies, including Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera) and native stingless bees (Scaptotrigona spp.), in 23 coffee fields across a gradient of native forest cover in southeastern Brazil. We found coffee yield per bush increased by 16 % in coffee fields near managed colonies compared to more distant control fields. We detected positive effects for both managed bee species, though with higher variability for the native bee species due to low replication. Our study provides robust evidence that supplementing coffee farms with managed bee colonies can increase coffee yields and should stimulate further research and investment in bee supplementation. |
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