Pig Breeding 2026 №3(81)

INFLUENCE OF POLLINATION ACTIVITY OF HONEY BEES ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF SUNFLOWER SEEDS

UDC: 638.19:638.132.1

DOI: 10.37143/2786-7730-2026-7(85)3

REFERENCIS АРА style:Dimchia, H. H. (2026). Vplyv zapyliuvalnoi aktyvnosti medonosnykh bdzhil na vrozhainist ta yakist nasinnia soniashnyka [influence of pollination activity of honey bees on the yield and quality of sunflower seeds]. Svynarstvo i Ahropromyslove Vyrobnytstvo [Pig Breeding and Agroindustrial Production]. Poltava, 7(85), 31-41. [in Ukrainіаn].https://doi.org/10.37143/2786-7730-2026-7(85)3

Н. Н. Dimchia Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Animal Husbandry. State Institution Institute of Grain Crops of the NAAS
ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9297-3138
E-mail:izkzoo3337@gmail.com
State Institution Institute of Grain Crops NAAS, str. Vladimir Vernadskyi, 14, Dnipro, 49009, Ukraine

Manuscript was received/ 16.04.2026

Received after review/ 05.05.2026

Accepted for printing/ 22.06.2026

Available online/ 30.06.2026

Abstract

Bees, in addition to producing the main most valuable food product – honey, carry out a huge amount of work on pollination of agricultural crops, including sunflower, as a result of which they significantly increase its yield and oil yield per unit area, which is of important national economic importance in terms of strengthening food security and export potential of Ukraine. The main factor determining the level of sunflower yield is the provision of flowers with cross-pollination. The tubular flowers of sunflower are arranged in such a way that, as a rule, the process of self-pollination is excluded. There is data in the literature on the possible transition of sunflower flowers to partial self-pollination under adverse conditions, but such a phenomenon is completely excluded in areas of sunflower hybridization due to the absolute absence of pollen in the flowers of the mother lines of arrow forms. The purpose of the research was to study and substantiate the feasibility of using honey bees as a mandatory agrotechnical technique for pollination of parental lines in sunflower hybridization areas. Methods. Field - observation of plant growth and development phases; laboratory - determination of seed quality and crop structure; mathematical and statistical – variance analysis of research results. Results. It was found that in the sunflower hybridization plots, honey bees actively fed on flowering baskets of the maternal and paternal lines from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. At this time, the number of bees on baskets exceeded the average during the day by 6–23 %. Observations of the behavior of more than 1,000 bees showed that 88–91% of their flights occurred within one paternal line, and 62–75 % within one row. Of all the flights of bees during their flight-harvesting work in the hybridization plot, only 9–12 % were carried out between plants of the paternal lines. The data obtained indicate that with an increase in the duration of the delay in pollination of baskets, their empty graininess also increases rapidly. Delaying sunflower pollination in hybridization plots for 11 days resulted in a significant reduction in the number of achenes in the mother line baskets to the level of permanently isolated plants. Conclusions. Improving the pollination conditions of the parental lines by increasing the number of honey bees in the sunflower hybridization area contributed to an increase in the yield of the F1 hybrid offspring by more than 15 % and an increase in the oil content in the achenes by 1.2–1.6 %.

Key words: honey bees, sunflower, pollination, binding, productivity, oiliness.

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