Bumblebees – Keep them cool this summer!

‘The need to keep your busy pollinators cool increases. Keeping an eye on the temperature in the greenhouse is more important than ever for your bumblebees to be able to function optimally and give the best pollination results for your crop.’ says Koppert’s Pollination Product Manager, Remco Huvermann.

Koppert’s guidelines advise growers to protect their hives against radiant heat/direct sunlight and to place them in a cool spot. Radiant heat can increase temperatures in the hive by 5 to 15°C. See for the best practice advice this short Koppert video clip .

‘A stable hive temperature ensures that bumblebees are out for the maximum number of pollination hours, and it positively influences the lifespan of a colony. It can make the difference between just enough pollination or a fruitset problem,’ Huvermann explains. ‘All that growers worldwide need to do is to take account of their local conditions and make sure the temperature is such that the bumblebees can concentrate on their pollination work and not purely on incubating and ventilating their hives.’