Application of the Bumblebee Foraging Pheromone for Commercial Greenhouse Pollination

Almost 1 million bumblebee colonies are bought each year to pollinate greenhouse crops. However poor bee motivation often leads to reduced pollination success. Building on our results showing that artificial chemicals can be used to increase Bombus terrestris foraging activity in the laboratory, we will elucidate the optimum chemical blend and test its efficacy at increasing pollination levels and crop yield of a commercially important crop (tomatoes) in greenhouse conditions. Having established our artificial foraging recruitment pheromone effectively mimics the natural bumblebee system to communicate the presence of food outside the nest, we will develop a cost-effective automatic system to dispense pheromone into bumblebee nests at timed intervals. To increase global applicability of this innovative technology to maximise crop yields, we will determine the components of the recruitment pheromone of Bombus impatiens, the species used exclusively for greenhouse pollination in the USA.