Honeybees typically prefer to forage relatively close to their hives, and selectively target flowers that offer the most plentiful stores of pollen and nectar.
SPLAT Bloom® applied in small dollops directly to the surfaces of plants, steadily releases predetermined quantities of a semiochemical naturally produced by worker bees called Nasonov pheromone. The pheromone marks the flowers that bees visit, indicating to other bees, a productive sources of pollen and nectar.
When dispersed throughout the field, SPLAT Bloom induces foraging honeybees to regard the treated crop as a desirable food source, thereby preventing them from leaving the field in search of alternative sources.
Field studies conducted in apples and almonds showed that treatment with SPLAT Bloom resulted in consistently higher levels of pollination and fruit set in both crops, as compared with untreated control plots.
The great advantage of SPAT Bloom is that the toothpaste like matrix releases the Nasonov pheromone in a controlled manner for up to 4-6 weeks.
It is extremely rainfast and resistant to weather, making if an effective pollination enhancer over the flowering period of most high value tree crops.
SPLAT Bloom is easily applied by the use of a ‘jumbo’ caulking gun (750g tubes) delivering 2-3 gram dollops to flowering branches at uniform spacings throughout the crop. Effective attraction can be achieved at 1.5 kg (two 750g tubes) of SPLAT Bloom at 250-375 dollops per hectare.
Contact Organic Crop Protectants
Freecall 1800 634 204
phone 02 9599 8767
email
www.ocp.com.au
See this article in Tree Fruit August 2017
