THE INFLUENCE OF HIVE LOCATION ON HONEYBEE FORAGING ACTIVITY AND FRUIT-SET IN MELONS GROWN IN PLASTIC GREENHOUSES

Melon (Cucumis melo L) is a very important winter crop in Israel, espe cially in the extremely hot Arava Valley. The melons are grown in 120 m long plastic tunnels, which creates problems in terms of pollination . Because of local southern windstorms, the long plastic tunnels can o nly be oriented in one direction, from north to south. Beekeepers disa gree as to the best site to locate the bee hives. Observation of bee f oraging behavior and analysis of wind direction in the experimental pl ots revealed that placing hives at the northern end of the tunnel allo ws for higher bee activity in the morning. This results in a higher yi eld compared with that obtained when hives are located at the southern end of the tunnel.