bumble bees as dispersal agents for biocontrol products€¦ · insufficient flight activity...
TRANSCRIPT
27 October 2010
Felix WäckersYann JacquesKurt PutVeerle MommaertsGuy Smagghe
Bumble bees as dispersal agents for Biocontrol products
Dr. Roland De Jonghe: Founder of Biobest NV
Dispenser applications
Pollination + Crop Protection
Dispenser applications
Vectors
- Honeybees (Peng et al., 1992)- Bumblebees (Yu and Sutton, 1997)- Mason Bees (Maccagnani et al., 2006)
Microbial Products
- Antagonistic fungi
- Bacterial products
- Insect Viruses
Targets
- DiseasesPests
- DiseasesPests
- Pests
Advantages bee dispenser technology
• Targeted application to flowers• Minimizes use of product• Continuous application• Low labour requirements
27 October 2010
Possible Bottlenecks
Impact on bumblebee flight/pollination activityInsufficient loads of outgoing bumble bees due to- dispenser design- product formulations Insufficient deposition of product at targetBrood contamination with MCA (compatibility)
Dispenser types
Insufficient flight activity
Solution
Biobest designed a new dispenser from scratch to address- Flight activity- Bumble bee load- Problem of brood contamination
A B
Available dispenser designs often reduced bumblebee flight activity relatively to standard hive
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- Two chamber dispenser- Valves to ensure ‘one-way traffic’- Can be fully integrated into
standard hive
The new biobest dispenser (patent pending)
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Foraging activity
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
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Foraging activity Mean Nr. Bublebees/30 min
WITHOUTDISPENSERBIOBESTDISPENSEROTHERDISPENSER
New BIOBEST dispenser does not inhibit foraging
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Bottlenecks
Impact on bumblebee flight/pollination activityInsufficient loads of outgoing bumble bees due to- dispenser design- product formulations Insufficient deposition of product at targetBrood contamination with MCA (compatibility)
Bumblebee loading
Average product load (upon exit)3.7 * 10 5 CFU
Head: 2%Thorax: 56%Abdomen: 36%Legs: 6%
Use of carriers
Addition of carrier dramatically increases adhesion and deposition of active ingredient
0
50
100
150
200
250
flower 1 flower 2 flower 3
with carrier
without carrier
Initial load (upon exit)• Without carrier: 3.7 * 10 5 CFU• With carrier: 4.1 * 10 5 CFU
body load after third flower
0200400600800
1000
with carrier without carrier
Application: Botrytis control in strawberries
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20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Control withoutbumblebees
Control withbumblebees
Prestop Mix
undamaged fruit
minor damage
severe damage
Dispenser
Other applications: Dispersal of MCA’s for pest control
DEFRA Project in bell pepper (with FERA/STC, UK)
• Comparison of 5 MCA’s for aphid/whitefly control• Assess impact of products on pests in lab trials• Assess impact of products on bumblebees• Based on above select two products for field trials
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Other applications: improving pollination
Example Kiwi berries• Both male and female plants• Three strategies to achieve pollination:
• Grow male as well as female plants• Manually dust or spray pollen• Use commercially available pollen in
dispenser hive
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Orchard divided in three sections:
• dusting of pollen • spraying of pollen suspension• Biobest bumblebee dispenser
Bumblebees introduced at first flowering
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Improving pollination kiwiberry
Results
• Excellent pollination in all three objects
• Dispenser refilled every third day
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Thanks