Apple Pollination Effects on Fruit Size and Yield Revealed

Research indicates that besides compatibility and flowering overlap, apple growers should consider their cultivation goals when choosing pollen donors. Apple flowers attract honey bees, bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, and other insects, but managed European honey bees are the main pollinators in commercial orchards. Pollinator visits vary by cultivar. Apples are mostly self-incompatible, needing pollen from another compatible cultivar or crab apple. However, compatible pollen donors differ in fruit set and fruit weight outcomes.