Bees hold secret of high yields
A scientist is planning to investigate whether combining crops with flowers that attract bees can improve yields in areas plagued by leaf-eating pests.
Research by Dr Jurgen Tautz, from the University of Wurzburg in Germany, found honeybees protect the plants they pollinate by warding off pests such as caterpillars.
Dr Tautz believes this may be "the start of a totally new biological control method" for protecting yields from pests destroying crops. As a result he believes this could be a sustainable practice that would reduce the need for pesticides.
Tests showed caterpillars stopped moving or dropped off the plant they were feeding on if an "unidentified flying object" approached generating air vibrations of the right frequency.
The buzzing of bees generates a vibration, which is detectable by sensitive body hairs on caterpillars. This caused stress to the creatures that thought it was a predatory wasp causing them to stop eating.
The scientists conducted an experiment in which bell pepper plants were kept in tents with either bees and caterpillars or caterpillars alone.
The plants surrounded by bees suffered between 60% and 70% less damage to their leaves.
Dr Tautz reported in the journal Current Biology: "Honeybees not only transport pollen from flower to flower, but in addition also reduce plant destruction by herbivores."
Copyright © Press Association 2008
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