Clients and Partners
Hort Innovation
Griffith University
Syngenta
Bayer
OLAM
Project Duration
2017 – 2023
Honeybees are excellent pollinators in many situations, but it is risky to rely on one species in the face of threats from pests, diseases and other challenges. In addition, honeybees are not good pollinators for all cropping scenarios. We therefore need to consider alternative pollinators, investigate their performance in different crops, and find better ways to propagate and deploy them. The leading candidates in Australia are stingless bees, which live in large colonies (like honeybees), pollinate a wide variety of plants, and can be kept in managed hives.
Our project is investigating the potential of Australian stingless bees as pollinators of orchard crops, including mango, lychee, macadamia and avocado, and finding that they are often very good pollinators. In addition, we find that they are very effective pollinators of glasshouse strawberries. In both field and glasshouse situations, we are now investigating the best ways to simultaneously achieve good crop pollination outcomes and maintain strong and healthy bee hives.
The Pollinator Lab 