POLLINATION OF CANTALOUPES UNDER SPUNBONDED ROW COVER BY HONEY-BEES (HYMENOPTERA, APIDAE) IN WEST-AFRICA

We evaluated 2 pollination treatments which did not require removal of the cover on cantaloupes under small tunnels of Agryl in West Africa. The cover was removed from control plots at the onset of pistillate f lowering but was maintained over treated plants for an additional 20 d . In the 1st treatment, one end of the tunnel was cut open to allow so me access to pollinators. In the 2nd treatment, the tunnel was kept cl osed but was provided with a multiple-entrance hive. The cover did not affect production or concentration of nectar. Honey bees, Apis mellif era adansonii Latreille, flew under the cover in both treatments, with an average of 54% as many bees foraging under the tunnels opened at o ne end as in the control. However, muscid flies, which were the most a bundant Bower visitors in the open, hardly foraged under the cover. Po llination intensity and amount of cantaloupe pollen on the body of hon ey bee foragers in the 2 covered treatments were similar but were sign ificantly greater than in the open. Total yield, fruit size, and seed content confirmed that pollination was at least as good in the covered plots as in the control. Covered plants produced more commercial-grad e fruit than control plants, which received 6 insecticide applications , demonstrating the usefulness of these pollination treatments in comb ination with the row cover for integrated pest management.