Do flower-tripping bees enhance yields in peanut varieties grown in north Queensland?
K. R. Blanche A , E , M. Hughes B , J. A. Ludwig C and S. A. Cunningham D A CSIRO Entomology, Tropical Forest Research Centre, GPO Box 780, Atherton, Qld 4883, Australia. B Queensland Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, Kairi Research Station, Qld 4882, Australia. C CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Tropical Forest Research Centre, GPO Box 780, Atherton, Qld 4883, Australia. D CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. E Corresponding author. Email: buglady@tpg.com.au Abstract It has been demonstrated that tripping of peanut flowers by large bees enhances pollination and improves peanut yields of some early commercial peanut varieties but this phenomenon has not been evaluated for recently developed peanut varieties. Our study aimed to establish whether bees provide this service for peanut varieties currently grown on the Atherton Tableland, north Queensland. To measure the impact of native and introduced bees occurring without assistance in crops, we set up 3
