Pollinating Insect in a Banana Plantation by Pak Harry

Pollinating Insect In A Banana Plantation !!!

Remember the sick BH in Bukit Pelanduk which I was asked to take over and nursed to better health?

It was into operation about 1.5 years ago and no nest at all.  The owner have decided to call it a day and hand over to me to nurse it back to normal.

The stand alone, about 25 feet by 80 feet and 2 stories high, is in a 2.7 acres of Coconut & Banana Plantation.

The owner indicated that the soil was a bit salty and he aborted the plantation of dragon fruit and switched to Coconut (long Term) and Banana (short term).

The coconut trees were still very small and the banana seems to be flourishing.

The first batch is growing very well and they have just started fruiting.

It seems that those swiftlet hover over the plantation nearly one whole day and more in the late evening.

I was wondering what is so special with banana plantation to those swiftlet.

I later discovered why.

Those fruits bunch with flower seems to attract lots of those small black coloured  bees that extract nectar and pollen.

At the moment nearly all the banana trees are with the young fruit bunch and no wonder those birds are all over the top of the plantation.

Have a look at these video clips and photos:

One of the video clip show you that there was a praying mantis that captured one of the bee.

What a life.

We thought that life is hard to be human but what about these insects?

No matter where they go there are always predators.

I would say that banana can be one of those trees that you can plant around your BH.  One thing for sure they will not be growing taller than your two stories BH.

They are easy to look after and very easy to plant.

The best is the Berangan and Emas.