Path-Coefficient Analysis of Correlation Between Honey Bee Activity and Seed Yield in Allium cepa L.1

Abstract

Abstract A path-coefficient analysis was used to furnish information on the inter-relationships of pollinating insect activity and components of seed yield in inbreds of Allium cepa L. The inbreds differed very significantly in their attractiveness to pollinating insects. Only one inbred exhibited a significant correlation (P <0.05 positive) between numbers of honey bees and seed yields. Separating the correlation coefficients into components of direct and indirect effects indicated that pollination attractiveness was not the limiting factor in seed set for inbreds in the experiment. Moreover, most of the variation in seed yield could be attributed to indirect effects on the components of yield, umbels per plant, flowers per umbel, percent per fertilized flower, and seeds per fertilized flower.