Pollination of canning peaches cv. Golden Queen

Abstract

The pollination requirements of Golden Queen peaches were studied in an orchard in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria. There was virtually no airborne pollen in the open orchard nor inside a cage placed around a peach tree. Flight activity of bees was related to ambient temperatures and honeybees accounted for 99.4% of insect visitors to the peach flowers. On trees to which bees had access there was a 1.2 times increase in the percentage of flowers that set fruit, but the weight of fruit harvested was not significantly different. Self-fertilization supplemented by honeybee pollination appears to be the normal mode of fruit set in this cultivar.