Evaluation of Native Stingless Bee Species (Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica) for Pollination Efficiency on Melon Manis Terengganu
Wahizatul Afzan Azmi* et.al.
*Faculty of Science Marine and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Malaysian Applied Biology, 51(5), 229–235. https://doi.org/10.55230/mabjournal.v51i5.2360 (2022)
A recently created melon variety called Melon Manis Terengganu (MMT) is only grown in Terengganu. It features monoecious flowers, meaning that the male and female parts of the flower are on different flowers on the same plant. The majority of hand-cross pollination used today for MMT pollination is done by humans. However, not much research has been done in Malaysia on the viability of stingless bees as pollinators for greenhouse MMT. Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica, two species of stingless bees, were housed in the greenhouse with the MMT for this investigation. This study compares and contrasts the four different pollination methods used to produce MMT: self-pollination, hand-cross pollination, H. itama pollination, and G. thoracica pollination. At least two days before the MMT flowers bloomed, two colonies of each species of stingless bee were placed within the greenhouse. In comparison to MMT produced via self-pollination, hand-cross pollination and pollination by stingless bee species resulted in much heavier fresh weight, larger fruit diameter, higher total soluble solid (TSS), and more seeds per fruit. Fruits produced by stingless bee pollination had a higher level of sweetness than those produced by hand-cross and self-pollination. Results showed that the MMT produced by stingless bee pollination was comparable to the MMT produced by hand-cross pollination. In addition to hand pollination, this study provides important information on the potential of native stingless bees, H. itama and G. thoracica, which can be efficient pollinators for greenhouse-grown MMT.
