New approach for determination of an optimum honeybee colony’s carrying capacity based on productivity and nectar secretion potential of bee forage species
...., Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Nuru Adgaba, . 2016
Beekeeping is one of the most important economic activities for rural communities in Saudi Arabia, where approximately 5000 beekeepers maintain more than one million honeybee colonies and produce approximately 9000 tons of honey annually (Al-Ghamdi, 2007). Despite the rapid development of the sub-sector in the country, there are still many challenges and constraints facing the beekeeping industry (Al-Ghamdi and Nuru, 2013b). Among these, overcoming of the seasonal shortage of bee forage is one of the critical challenges to the development of this subsector.
In most cases, success in beekeeping depends on the availability of sufficient bee forage in terms of both quality and quantity of nectar and pollen grains. Hence, beekeeping is more dependent on the existing natural resource conditions of an area than any other livestock activities. In areas, where beekeeping is not suitable, other improved management skills and advanced technologies alone cannot make beekeeping successful. For this reason, availability of adequate bee forage is considered to be one of the most important elements in beekeeping industry. In many areas of the Kingdom, bees and beekeepers suffer from seasonal drought, which causes a shortage of bee forage (Al-Ghamdi and Nuru, 2013b and Alqarni et al., 2011). These conditions drive many beekeepers to move their colonies from one area to another in search of better nectar and/or pollen sources and to avoid severe weather conditions (Alqarni et al., 2011). However, this often leads to a concentration of a large number of bee colonies (owned by a single or multiple beekeepers) in limited areas, regardless of honeybee colony population density and the actual carrying capacity of the areas (Al-Ghamdi and Nuru, 2013a). Beekeepers concentrate on only some areas in search of a few particular species of plants that provide the most desired and expensive type of honey (Al-Ghamdi, 2005). In this regard, there is no directive to guide or determine the number of colonies to be placed per unit area, nor has it set out the minimum distances between two adjacent apiaries to minimize competition caused by the overlapping of foraging ranges and subsequent declines of productivity of colonies. As a result overcrowding and resource completion are very intense. Some studies suggested the minimum distance between two commercial apiaries to be 1.5–2 km (Hagler et al., 2011).
Some Candida species are found as endosymbionts in most healthy individuals. C.
Propolis is a regional strongly differing heterogeneous glue material generated by honeybees using plant resins and beeswax.
Beekeeping is one of the most important economic activities for rural communities in Saudi Arabia, where approximately 5000 beekeepers maintain more than one million honeybee colonies and produce…