The aim of the work described in this thesis is to improve the preparedness of the horticulture industry for the possible incursion of varroa mite and decline of managed honey bees by developing stingless bees as alternate managed pollinators. In this thesis, we conduct various surveys and experiments that contribute to improving pollination provisioning by native stingless bees. With research predicting ongoing changes in the global environment and resultant fluctuations in pollinator communities , it has become essential to focus on studying alternate and native pollinators. One such pollinator group is the stingless bees, which have a pan-tropical distribution, with a few species in the subtropics and temperate regions. The chapters of my thesis address questions that are yet to be solved regarding adoption of alternate managed pollination, such as the influence of farm management on crop pollination, and documenting the current knowledge among growers and beekeepers regarding managed pollination in India and Australia. In Chapter 2 I study and establish the current nature and status of beekeeping practices in India. Additionally, I study the current knowledge of growers regarding pollinators and pollination service. Overall it was established that growers know very little about pollination and beekeepers predominantly keep the honeybee, Apis mellifera, for honey production rather than for pollination. I then survey the Australian stingless bee industry (Chapter 3), documenting its growth in the past decade and comparing observed patterns to those in two previous decadal surveys. The decadal survey concludes that the stingless bee industry has a higher growth rate than the honey bee industry in Australia. An important step in developing stingless bees as alternate managed pollinators is to look at the effect of farm management on various insect visitors such as pollinators, beneficials and pests. In Chapter 4 I study the effects of farm management practices on insect visitors to conclude that low-spray management practices are an effective method to combat pests while maintaining unmanaged pollinators and beneficials on the orchard. Lastly, I compare various pollination methods – stingless bee pollination, hand pollination and no pollination within a protected cropping system for strawberry production and compare their cost-effectiveness (Chapter 5). The study concludes that strawberry growers will benefit from investing in bee pollination to improve their economic efficiency. Ultimately, these new insights contribute towards our understanding in developing stingless bees as alternated managed pollinators
