Honeybee Behaviour as Affected by Plant Height and Flower Colour in Brussels Sprouts

Summary

Differences in plant height and flower colour of the parent lines involved in the production of hybrid seed of Brussels sprouts affected the behaviour of honeybees during pollination. Where the inbreds were of somewhat similar plant height but differed in flower colour, the effective self to cross movement of bees was 23: 1. Where plant height was very different but flower colour the same, the effective bee self to cross movement was 33: 1. Bees crossed freely between tall plants and between short ones, but rarely between tall and short, thus encouraging selfing and sibbing (sister-brother mating).

These results suggest that, when honeybees are used as pollinators in hybrid seed production, parent plants should be of similar height and flower colour if crossing between the inbred lines is to be improved.