[Evaluation of bee attractants and manual pollination in kiwi fruit]

The efficiency of Beeline and Beescent attractants was tested in kiwi vine. cv Hayward. Some factors influencing hand pollination, such as the pollination effective period, efficacy of repeated pollinations, and the effect on the pollinating cultivars, were evaluated as well. To determine the pollination effective period, a group of different flowers was pollinated each day from anthesis until the seventh day. In the trial of repeated pollination, all the flower groups were pollinated the first anthesis day. From then on, a flower group was left unpollinated daily. Thus, the first treatment received pollination only the first anthesis day, whereas the seventh treatment was subjected to seven consecutive pollination days. To determine the effect of the pollinating cultivar, flowers were pollinated with pollen from the Matua and Tomuri cvs individually; evaluations of the in vitro germination capacity were made. With respect to attractants, no differences were found in the visit of bees to the treated blocks and the control treatment. Fruits from Beeline treatment weighed less and had a smaller polar diameter, wich was ascribed to the less vigor shown by the plants in the sector. No differences were observed in fruit size between Beescent application and the control. Hand pollination results indicate that the most suitable flower stages to carry out pollination and to obtain the greatest fruit size is the first day of anthesis. Moreover, when pollinating a flower consecutively during several days, no cumulative effect takes place in the number of fertilized ovules and in fruit size, prevailing the pollination of the first anthesis day. The Tomuri cv showed a greater amount and viability of pollen and, when hand pollinating, fruits had a greater weight and polar diameter than Matua cv fruits. A low correlation was obtained between weight and seed number