Effects of Bee Density and Hive Distribution on Pollination Efficiency for Greenhouse Strawberries: A Simulation Study

Abstract

The cultivated strawberry Fragaria × ananassa Duch. is widely planted in greenhouses around the world. Its production heavily depends on pollination services. Bee pollination can significantly improve fruit quality and save considerable labor requirements. In this paper, we used a simulation model to study the effects of bee density and hive distribution on pollination efficiency for greenhouse strawberries. Simulation experiments allowed us to obtain the pollination efficiency under different conditions and track every bee, flower, pollen and fruit in detail without great planting cost. In particular, we found that fruit quality cannot be significantly improved once bee density is higher than one bee/plant due to a saturation effect. Distributing bee hives and strawberry interplanting spatially can improve fruit quality. In addition, the simulation results suggested that a continuous bee pollination process can significantly reduce the influence of stigma receptivity. This effect and the even distribution of pollen are the top two reasons explaining how bee pollination outperforms artificial pollination.