Heraklion

XII European Congress of Entomology

I was happy to present our research, entitled ‘Flower visitation through the lens: exploring bumblebees’ behaviour with computer vision-based application‘, at the XII European Congress of Entomology (ECE2023) which was held in Heraklion, Crete, on 16-20 October 2023. In addition to numerous thought-provoking oral presentations and posters, the congress provided a good starting point for potential …

Flowering tomato

Noise and pollination

In addition to wild pollinators visiting agricultural lands, ’commercial bumblebees’ (e.g. Bombus terrestris audax in Europea) have been used in glass houses and open-field cultivations worldwide since the 1980s. Indeed, bumblebees (Bombus sp.) are the most efficient pollinators for a wide variety of popular crops, such as tomatoes and strawberries, and it is also well-known …

The bumblebees and the flowering cabbage

Life is buzzing on the cabbage

Of the many gorgeous herbaceous plants and flowering fruit trees, the buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) in our garden chose the blooming cabbage (Brassica oleracea) as their favourite nectar and pollen source this spring. Cabbage is a cross-pollinated crop, which means it is not capable of self-fertilisation, thus pollination via insects is one of the best …