Abstract

The presence of native bees in orchards contributing to pollination and fruit production is one of the main reasons for conserving a diverse agricultural landscape and restoring native flora associated with crops. Both strategies promote greater diversity of native bees, carrying out complementary pollination tasks alongside honeybees, which could constitute a sustainable model for food production in the medium and long term. 464 species of native bees, belonging to 5 families (Andrenidae, Apidae, Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae), have been described in Chile, many of which have been recorded visiting flowers of different types of crops. However, it is necessary to establish their participation in fruit tree pollination and verify pollen transport. To do this, we used the concept of floral constancy as an approach to the contribution of native bees to fruit production in almond (2), cherry (2), and avocado (2) orchards in the Metropolitan Region, where a hedgerow of native flora was established. During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, the abundance and richness of native bee families and their dispersion from the hedgerow were estimated at 30 points per orchard. Pollen was collected from 25 individuals per orchard to estimate pollen loads per crop. The implementation of the hedgerow in 2020 and its flowering in 2021 would explain the higher abundance and richness of native bee families in the orchards and an increase in floral constancy (mainly Halictidae, particularly on cherry). Bees showed dispersion in the orchard up to 350 m from the hedgerow. Significant differences (p<0.05) in abundance and floral constancy were recorded between both seasons. These findings raise the need to evaluate and value the participation of native bees as complementary pollinators to honeybees, together with the restoration of native habitats in simplified agricultural landscapes. Native flora and bees emerge as a link between conservation and production, so it is necessary to develop and implement landscape and orchard management strategies that promote sustainable fruit production.