Abstract
Nutrition is a key aspect influencing honey bee health and overwintering. Since honey bee seasonality in southern temperate climates represents a significant research gap, this study conducted long-term monitoring of honey bees in the Mediterranean (Sassari, Italy). Specifically, individual weight, fat body, and size measurements (head, thorax, abdomen, and total body) were recorded monthly so to detect changes in the nutrient storage of worker bees during an annual cycle. Data were analysed according to sampling date, climate (temperature, precipitation, and daylength), and flower diversity and were conducted for nurse and forager bees separately. The nutritional honey bee year-cycle generally followed the nectar flow and showed two critical timepoints: summer and winter dearth. A short cessation of activities in late fall/early winter coupled with an increase in nutrient storage indicated the presence of winter bees. Precipitation was found to play an important role in honey bee nutrition in the study area through its impacts on colony demography and plants in particular illustrating how climate change could pose a threat to European honey bee populations in the future. These results provide valuable insights into the nutritional dynamics of Apis mellifera ligustica in the Mediterranean that could support management decisions to improve overwintering success and prevent unnecessary colony losses.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 730 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-20 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Agriculture |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 8 May 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 by the authors.
Data Access Statement
Data is contained within the article.Keywords
- winter bees
- nutrition
- morphometry
- melliferous plants
- climate change