Onion seed plants, Allium cepa L., exhibited varietal differences regarding honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) visitation; incidence of pink root disease, Pyrenochaeta terrestris Hansen) Gorenz, Walker, and Larson; numbers of western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) present; and seed yields. Results from an isolated onion planting showed that the male sterile, Code 2 hybrid, adjacent to a pollen-parent, was significantly more attractive to honeybees and produced significantly more seed than a second comparable hybrid.

Assisting this study were John Campbell, Nurseryman at Davis, and James Harrington and Jasper Laraway, Department of Vegetable Crops, U.C., Davis. Onion weds and bulbs were obtained from Ferry Morse and Asgro Seed Companies.