RELEVANCE OF ELECTROSTATIC FORCES IN NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL POLLINATION

The transfer of pollen grains from anther to stigma during natural pol lination, particularly during hybrid seed production, is of interest t o agricultural engineers. Artificial. pollination to improve the yield and the quality of various fruits and vegetables is already in commer cial use. Electrostatic forces, utilized by the honeybee in natural po llen detachment, were investigated in order to improve the design of f uture systems for artificial pollen detachment. Measurements showed th at the average charge on a bee after active flight through the air was 23.1 pC, with a maximum of 93 pC. The forces required for detaching p ollen were 4x10(-10), 3x10(-10), and 39x10(-10) N for avocado, eucalyp tus, and lizianthus, respectively. Mathematical modelling showed that there are cases when the accumulated charge on a honeybee is sufficien t for non-contact pollen detachment.