Bumble bee drift in a greenhouse environment

Commercial greenhouses require high densities of managed bumble bee colonies to pollinate crops such as tomatoes. This novel environment contains closely aggregated colonies and a deficit of directional cues which may present orientation challenges to foraging bees, resulting in increased amounts of bee drift, defined as when a bee leaves one colony to join another. I examined orientation and drifting behaviour of Bombus occidentalis Greene and Bombus impatiens Cresson, the two major bumble bee pollinators of greenhouse tomatoes in British Columbia. The objectives were to establish the extent and frequency of bee drift into foreign colonies, to examine the potential of nest entrance patterns and landmarks to reduce drift in commercial greenhouses, to investigate characteristics of colonies that contained drifting bees, and to determine behavioural and physical characteristics of drifting versus non-drifting bees. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...