Enhancing Seed Production of Three Brassica vegetables by Honey Bee Pollination in North-western Himalayas of India

The impact of planned honeybee pollination on the seed production of three Brassica vegetables, Brassica oleacea var. italica, B. rapa pekinensis and B. oleracea var. gongylodes and the pollination behaviour of Apis mellifera was studied under Indian Himalayan conditions. Among the three crops tested, more number of bees were found visiting broccoli crop under net house condition (6.05 bees/plant) followed by kohlrabi (5.35 bees/plants) and Chinese cabbage (5.05 bees/plant). Bees spent more time in Chinese cabbage flower (6.92 sec) while it was 6.50 sec in broccoli and 5.54 sec in kohlrabi. Bees in the open conditions were found to spend less time in a flower as compared to the net house conditions. Honeybees played an important role in enhancing the seed production of all the crops under study. Planned honeybee pollination was found to inflict maximum impact on the seed production of broccoli with an increase in seed yield of 29.2 per cent. The net profit was also more in case of broccoli, which was calculated to be 1324.60$ per ha in honeybee pollinated broccoli crop when compared to the natural pollinated crop.