Utilization of Indian Dammar Bee (Tetragonula iridipennis Smith) as a Pollinator of Bitter Gourd

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the pollination deficit in bitter gourd (<em>Momordica charantia</em> L.) and the effect of the use of Indian dammar bee as pollinator on the yield. Diverse native visitors were recorded during the blooming period. Among those honeybees, stingless bee, solitary bees, and butterflies are legitimate visitors; all of them showed a selective preference for male flowers (flower sex type selection index ranged from 0.41 to 0.62). The plant species showed a pollination deficit in nature (coefficient of pollination deficit, D = 0.20), resulting in low fruit set in an open-pollination system. However, the value was significantly increased by the supplementary pollination services of a managed dammar bee colony. Furthermore, the quality of the fruits also improved in hand-pollinated and managed bee-pollinated systems in comparison to an open pollination system. Therefore, it is generally recommended that farmers use Indian dammar bee colonies in their agricultural land to increase the quantity and quality of the yield of bitter gourd.