Pollination on strawberry in the vinyl house by Apis mellifera L. and A-cerana Fab.

The pollination effects and behavioral characteristics of honeybees (Apis mellifera L. and A. cerana F.) were examined on strawberry in vinyl houses. When A. mellifera or A. cerana was introduced into vinyl house, the fruit weight of the first clusters in three varieties of strawberry, Bogyojosaeng, Suhong, Yeobong were higher than those of fruits grown without bees. The heaviest or lightest fruits were from the variety Yeobong grown with bees or without bees, respectively. There were no differences in significant fruit weight between the two bee species. The rates of deformed first fruits were 85%-100% in Yeobong without bees, which was higher than for the other two varieties, Suhong and Bogyojosaeng. When A. mellifera was introduced into the vinyl houses, the rate of deformed first fruits was zero in all three varieties. However, when A. cerana was introduced, no deformed fruits were observed in Yeobong but 2% in Suhong and 45% in Bogyojosaeng appeared. A diurnal foraging pattern of A. mellifera was observed from 10:00 to 16:00, whose maximum activity was shown at 14:00 to 15:00. A. cerana began at 09:00 to 16:00, whose maximum activity was shown at 14:00. The stamens of pollinated strawberry flowers started turning black in color one day after flowering. Fertilization was fulfilled 5 days after flowering, and then, all petals fell off 7 days later. The pistil began development 8 days after flowering.