Bumblebee attractant and method for pollinating camellia oleifera by using bumblebees

Abstract

The invention provides a bumblebee attractant and a method for pollinating camellia oleifera by utilizing bumblebees, and belongs to the technical field of camellia oleifera pollination. The bumblebee attractant comprises the following components: eugenol, methyl jasmonate, glucose, a solubilizer and a diluent. The method for pollinating the camellia oleifera by using the bumblebees comprises the following steps: S1, 1-2 weeks before pollination, performing disinfection and insecticidal treatment on a camellia oleifera tree entering row; s2, 2-3 days before flowering of camellia oleifera, bumblebee beehives are placed in a camellia oleifera garden, and hydromel is fed; s3, when male flowers and female flowers of camellia oleifera bloom and the weather is sunny, spraying the bumblebee attractant to stigmas of the female flowers every day, and meanwhile, releasing pollinated bumblebees from the beehive until the flowering phase of the female flowers ends. Eugenol and methyl jasmonate in the attractant can synergistically improve the attraction effect on bumblebees, and the pollination rate of camellia oleifera is increased.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of oil-tea camellia pollination, in particular to a bumblebee attractant and a method for pollinating oil-tea camellia by utilizing bumblebees. Background Art

[0002] Camellia oleifera is a perennial evergreen plant, mainly distributed in the area south of the Yangtze River Basin. Camellia oleifera is an important and bulk oil-bearing tree species. Tea oil produced from its seeds enjoys the reputation of "the king of edible oils" because of its high content of unsaturated fatty acids and rich nutrients such as squalene, sterols and vitamin E. Camellia oleifera is a typical cross-pollinated plant, and its seed production is highly dependent on the pollination services of pollinating insects. Camellia oleifera blooms in winter, and during the flowering period, pollination services are mainly provided by insects such as the Colletes gigas and the Andrena camellia. In recent years, due to the destruction of the habitats of pollinating insects, the population of natural pollinators has declined rapidly, resulting in a decrease in relatively specialized camellia pollinating insects, which has brought a serious pollination crisis to camellia. Therefore, the artificial introduction of pollinating insects that can provide effective pollination services for camellia oleifera is particularly important for promoting the high-quality development of the camellia oleifera industry.

[0003] Bumblebees are the most widely raised pollinating insect after domesticated honeybees. Consuming Camellia oleifera nectar can cause poisoning to bees, impacting the development of bee colonies and the production of bee products. However, factory-breeding techniques for bumblebees are highly developed. The bumblebee populations used for pollination are single-use and do not need to be recovered after pollination, regardless of whether Camellia oleifera nectar components are toxic to ground bumblebees. Bumblebee proboscises are 4 to 10 mm longer than honeybee proboscises, allowing them to insert into the base of a flower's longer corolla tube to extract nectar, ensuring that the stigma is fully coated with pollen, ensuring more complete pollination. Furthermore, compared to honeybees, bumblebees have larger bodies, longer lifespans, greater vitality, and faster flower-visiting speeds, improving pollination efficiency. Furthermore, bumblebees are covered in soft, long hairs from head to tail, making them more suitable for carrying large quantities of pollen and pollinating more flowers. Bumblebees can also use "sonic pollination", which is widely used in pollination of many crops such as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, blueberries, apples, strawberries, sweet cherries and kiwis.

[0004] However, the use of bumblebees in oil-tea camellia pollination is not yet fully popularized, and there are still some problems that need to be solved in the actual application of bumblebee pollination by oil-tea camellia growers. For example, the temperature during pollination is low, and the bumblebees are less active. In addition, the oil-tea camellia flowers are not attractive to bumblebees or attract only a small number of bumblebees. These factors lead to low pollination rates in oil-tea camellia, and thus reduced oil-tea camellia yields. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a method to improve the pollination rate of oil-tea camellia. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention provides a bumblebee attractant and a method for pollinating oil-tea camellia using bumblebees, which solve the problem of low pollination rate when pollinating oil-tea camellia using bumblebees.

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the invention, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0007] The present invention provides a bumblebee attractant comprising the following components by weight: 0.5-1 part eugenol, 1-2 parts methyl jasmonate, 3-6 parts glucose, 10-20 parts solubilizer, and 1000-2000 parts diluent. The eugenol and methyl jasmonate are fragrances, and the glucose is a sweetener.

[0008] Preferably, the solubilizer is dimethyl sulfoxide and the diluent is water.

[0009] The present invention also provides a preparation method of the bumblebee attractant, comprising the following steps: mixing eugenol, methyl jasmonate and a solubilizer to obtain a mixed solution A; mixing glucose and a diluent to obtain a mixed solution B; and mixing the mixed solution A and the mixed solution B to obtain the bumblebee attractant.

[0010] The present invention also provides a method for pollinating oil-tea camellia using bumblebees, comprising the following steps:

[0011] S1. Disinfect and treat the oil-tea camellia trees 1 to 2 weeks before pollination.

[0012] S2. 2-3 days before the oil-tea camellia blooms, place bumblebee hives in the oil-tea camellia garden and feed the bees with honey water.

[0013] S3. When both the male and female flowers of Camellia oleifera are in bloom and the weather is sunny, spray the bumblebee attractant according to claim 1 or 2 on the stigma of the female flowers every day until the flowering period of the female flowers ends, and release the pollinating bumblebees from the beehive at the same time.

[0014] Preferably, the bumblebee hive is placed on a shelf 40 to 60 cm above the ground.

[0015] Preferably, the mass percentage of the honey water type honey is 30-50%.

[0016] Preferably, the number of bumblebees released is 150 to 250 per mu.

[0017] Preferably, the frequency of spraying the bumblebee attractant is once a day, with 0.1 to 0.2 mL sprayed on each female flower.

[0018] Preferably, the bumblebee hives are moved to the oil tea garden between 5:00 and 7:00 in the evening.

[0019] Preferably, when releasing the bumblebees, the bee-releasing opening of the beehive faces a direction that is sheltered from the wind and faces the sun.

[0020] By adopting the above technical solution, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: The bumblebee attractant of the present invention comprises the following components: eugenol, methyl jasmonate, glucose, a solubilizer, and a diluent. The method of pollinating oil tea trees with bumblebees in the present invention comprises the following steps: S1. Disinfecting and treating oil tea trees with insecticides 1 to 2 weeks before pollination; S2. Placing bumblebee hives in the oil tea garden and feeding honey water 2 to 3 days before the oil tea flowers bloom; S3. When both male and female flowers of the oil tea are in bloom and the weather is sunny, spray the bumblebee attractant on the stigmas of the female flowers daily and release the pollinating bumblebees from the hives until the female flowers have finished blooming. The eugenol and methyl jasmonate in the attractant of the present invention act synergistically, enhancing the bumblebee attraction effect at lower sweetener concentrations, thereby increasing the pollination rate of the oil tea trees. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 This is a picture of the net surrounding the oil-tea camellia. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The invention provides a bumblebee attractant, which comprises the following components in parts by mass: 0.5 to 1 part of eugenol, 1 to 2 parts of methyl jasmonate, 3 to 6 parts of glucose, 10 to 20 parts of a solubilizer, and 1,000 to 2,000 parts of a diluent.

[0023] In the bumblebee attractant of the present invention, the mass fraction of the eugenol is preferably 0.7 to 0.9 parts, more preferably 0.8 parts;

[0024] The mass fraction of the methyl jasmonate is preferably 1.3 to 1.8 parts, more preferably 1.5 parts;

[0025] The mass fraction of the glucose is preferably 4 to 5 parts, more preferably 4.5 parts;

[0026] The mass fraction of the solubilizer is preferably 13 to 18 parts, more preferably 15 parts;

[0027] The mass fraction of the diluent is preferably 1200 to 1800 parts, more preferably 1500 parts.

[0028] The solubilizing agent is dimethyl sulfoxide, and the diluent is water.

[0029] The present invention also provides a method for preparing the bumblebee attractant, comprising the following steps: mixing eugenol, methyl jasmonate, and a solubilizing agent to obtain a mixed solution A; mixing glucose with a diluent to obtain a mixed solution B; and mixing the mixed solution A and the mixed solution B to obtain the bumblebee attractant. The present invention first dissolves eugenol and methyl jasmonate in a solubilizing agent and stirs them evenly to obtain a mixed solution A. The present invention has no particular restrictions on the stirring speed and stirring time, as long as the eugenol and methyl jasmonate are fully dissolved in the solubilizing agent. Then, glucose is dissolved in a diluent and stirred thoroughly to obtain a mixed solution B. After mixing the mixed solutions A and B, they are stirred evenly to obtain the bumblebee attractant.

[0030] The present invention also provides a method for pollinating oil-tea camellia using bumblebees, comprising the following steps:

[0031] S1. Disinfect and treat the oil-tea camellia trees 1 to 2 weeks before pollination.

[0032] S2. 2-3 days before the oil-tea camellia blooms, place bumblebee hives in the oil-tea camellia garden and feed the bees with honey water.

[0033] S3. When both the male and female flowers of Camellia oleifera are in bloom and the weather is sunny, spray the bumblebee attractant according to claim 1 or 2 on the stigma of the female flowers every day until the flowering period of the female flowers ends, and release the pollinating bumblebees from the beehive at the same time.

[0034] The present invention disinfects and treats oil-tea camellia trees 1 to 2 weeks before pollination. Two to three days before flowering, bumblebee hives are placed in an oil-tea camellia garden. The hives are moved to the garden between 5:00 and 7:00 in the evening and placed on a shelf 40 to 60 cm above the ground. The bumblebees are fed honey water, wherein the mass percentage of honey in the honey water is 30 to 50%, preferably 35 to 45%, and more preferably 40%. When both male and female flowers of the oil-tea camellia are in bloom and the weather is sunny, the bumblebee attractant is sprayed on the stigma of the female flowers once a day, with 0.1 to 0.2 mL, more preferably 0.15 mL, sprayed on each female flower. Simultaneously, pollinating bumblebees are released from the hive until the flowering period of the female flowers ends. When the bumblebees are released, the bee opening of the hive faces a wind-proof and sunny direction.

[0035] The technical solutions provided by the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the embodiments, but they should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0036] Example 1

[0037] Preparation of bumblebee attractant: Accurately weigh 0.5 g of eugenol and 1 g of methyl jasmonate, dissolve them in 10 g of dimethyl sulfoxide, and stir evenly to obtain mixed solution A; accurately weigh 3 g of glucose, dissolve it in 1000 g of water, and stir evenly to obtain mixed solution B; fully mix mixed solution A and mixed solution B and stir evenly to obtain.

[0038] Using bumblebees to pollinate oil-tea camellia: Two weeks before pollination, disinfect and treat the oil-tea tree rows with insecticides. Two days before flowering, at 5:00 PM, place bumblebee hives on racks 40 cm above the ground in the tea garden and feed them honey water containing 30% honey by weight. When both male and female flowers are in bloom and the weather is clear, spray the female flower stigmas with the aforementioned bumblebee attractant once daily at 7:00 AM, applying 0.1 mL per female flower, until the female flowers have finished blooming. Simultaneously, release the pollinating bumblebees from the hives, with the bee opening facing out of the wind and towards the sun. A release rate of 180 bumblebees per mu (approximately 180 slugs) is recommended.

[0039] Example 2

[0040] Preparation of bumblebee attractant: Accurately weigh 0.8 g of eugenol and 1.6 g of methyl jasmonate, dissolve them in 15 g of dimethyl sulfoxide, and stir evenly to obtain mixed solution A; accurately weigh 5 g of glucose, dissolve it in 1500 g of water, and stir evenly to obtain mixed solution B; fully mix mixed solution A and mixed solution B and stir evenly to obtain.

[0041] Using bumblebees to pollinate oil-tea camellia: Two weeks before pollination, disinfect and treat the oil-tea tree rows with insecticides. Two days before flowering, at 6:00 PM, place bumblebee hives on racks 50 cm above the ground in the tea garden and feed them with honey water containing 40% honey by weight. When both male and female flowers are in bloom and the weather is clear, spray the female flower stigmas with the aforementioned bumblebee attractant once daily at 7:00 AM, applying 0.15 mL per female flower, until the female flowers have finished blooming. Simultaneously, release the pollinating bumblebees from the hives, with the bee opening facing out of the wind and towards the sun. Release a maximum of 200 bumblebees per mu (approximately 200 saplings).

[0042] Example 3

[0043] Preparation of bumblebee attractant: Accurately weigh 1 g of eugenol and 2 g of methyl jasmonate, dissolve them in 20 g of dimethyl sulfoxide, and stir evenly to obtain mixed solution A; accurately weigh 6 g of glucose, dissolve it in 2000 g of water, and stir evenly to obtain mixed solution B; fully mix mixed solution A and mixed solution B and stir evenly to obtain.

[0044] Using bumblebees to pollinate oil-tea camellia: Two weeks before pollination, disinfect and treat the oil-tea tree rows with insecticides. Two days before flowering, at 7:00 PM, place bumblebee hives on racks 60 cm above the ground in the tea garden and feed them with honey water containing 50% honey by weight. When both male and female flowers are in bloom and the weather is clear, spray the female flower stigmas with the aforementioned bumblebee attractant once daily at 7:00 AM, applying 0.2 mL per female flower, until the female flowers have finished blooming. Simultaneously, release the pollinating bumblebees from the hives, with the bee opening facing out of the wind and towards the sun. A release rate of 220 bumblebees per mu (approximately 220 per acre) is recommended.

[0045] Comparative Example 1

[0046] The difference from Example 2 is that eugenol is not added to the bumblebee attractant, but methyl jasmonate of equal mass is used instead.

[0047] Comparative Example 2

[0048] The difference from Example 2 is that methyl jasmonate is not added to the bumblebee attractant, but eugenol of equal mass is used instead.

[0049] Comparative Example 3

[0050] The difference from Example 2 is that linalool of equal mass is used to replace eugenol.

[0051] Comparative Example 4

[0052] The difference from Example 2 is that methyl salicylate is used in place of methyl jasmonate in equal mass.

[0053] Comparative Example 5

[0054] The difference from Example 2 is that the mass of eugenol is 1.6 g and the mass of methyl jasmonate is 0.8 g.

[0055] Experimental example

[0056] The experiment was conducted in 2023-2024 at a tea oil plantation in Hengjiang Town, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province. The experiment was divided into 9 groups, each with an area of ​​1 mu. The tea oil trees in each group were fenced to ensure that the bumblebees released by each group only pollinated within the tea oil garden of each group ( Figure 1); There is an isolation zone with a width of 2m between two adjacent groups. The oil tea was pollinated according to the methods in Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 5 respectively. During the entire flowering period, if it does not rain, bumblebee attractant was sprayed at the same time every day, once a day, with the same spraying amount as before, until the flowering period of the female flowers ended, and the pollination of the oil tea was completed by the bumblebee colony. After the flowering period ended, the spraying of bumblebee attractant was stopped, and the pollination colony was evacuated from the oil tea planting base. Artificially pollinated oil tea trees were used as a control. At 7:00 am, male flowers were picked and placed in a container. When the female flowers opened, the male flower pollen was scraped with a bamboo stick and gently applied to the female flower style one by one. After the pollination was completed, 50 plants were randomly selected from each group to monitor the fruit setting rate of the oil tea. Before harvesting, the average number of fruits per plant and the average yield of the oil tea per plant were counted and calculated one by one. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0057] Table 1 Fruit setting rate and average total number of fruits per tree of each group of tea oil trees

[0058] Group Fruit setting rate (%) Average total number of fruits per plant Average yield of single oil-tea camellia tree (kg) Example 1 88.3 156.36 26.74 Example 2 91.6 166.28 27.56 Example 3 94.5 172.30 29.18 Comparative Example 1 33.7 53.20 8.77 Comparative Example 2 49.9 79.66 14.65 Comparative Example 3 58.6 101.14 15.60 Comparative Example 4 65.1 114.72 17.92 Comparative Example 5 77.0 131.38 21.64 control group 83.6 145.60 24.31

[0059] As shown in Table 1, the fruit setting rate of the oil tea in Example 1 of the present invention was 88.3% to 94.5%, the average total number of fruits per plant was 156.36 to 172.30, and the average yield per plant was 53.48 to 58.36 kg, all of which were higher than those of the comparative example and the control group. This indicates that the method of using the attractant of the present invention to attract bumblebees to pollinate oil tea trees can replace the manual pollination method. The use of the attractant bumblebees to pollinate oil tea trees using the present invention not only saves labor costs, but also increases the fruit setting rate and yield of oil tea.

[0060] It can be seen from the above embodiments that the present invention provides a bumblebee attractant and a method for pollinating oil-tea camellia using bumblebees, thereby improving the pollination rate of bumblebees when pollinating oil-tea camellia.

[0061] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A bumblebee attractant, characterized in that: The invention comprises the following components in parts by mass: 0.5 to 1 part of eugenol, 1 to 2 parts of methyl jasmonate, 3 to 6 parts of glucose, 10 to 20 parts of solubilizer and 1000 to 2000 parts of diluent.

2. The bumblebee attractant according to claim 1, characterized in that The solubilizing agent is dimethyl sulfoxide, and the diluent is water.

3. The method for preparing the bumblebee attractant according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Mixing eugenol, methyl jasmonate and a solubilizing agent to obtain a mixed solution A; Mixing glucose with a diluent to obtain a mixed solution B; mixing the mixed solution A with the mixed solution B to obtain the bumblebee attractant.

4. A method for pollinating oil-tea camellia using bumblebees, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1. Disinfect and treat the oil-tea camellia trees 1 to 2 weeks before pollination. S2. 2-3 days before the oil-tea camellia blooms, place bumblebee hives in the oil-tea camellia garden and feed the bees with honey water. S3. When both the male and female flowers of Camellia oleifera are in bloom and the weather is sunny, spray the bumblebee attractant according to claim 1 or 2 on the stigma of the female flowers every day until the flowering period of the female flowers ends, and release the pollinating bumblebees from the beehive at the same time.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The bumblebee beehive is placed on a shelf 40 to 60 cm above the ground.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The mass percentage of the honey water type honey is 30-50%.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The number of bumblebees released is 150 to 250 per acre.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The frequency of spraying bumblebee attractant is once a day, and 0.1 to 0.2 mL is sprayed on each female flower.

9. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The bumblebee hives are moved to the oil tea garden between 5:00 and 7:00 in the evening.

10. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that When releasing bumblebees, the beehive's opening should face a sunny direction that is sheltered from the wind.

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