Colony strength in the spring inspection and its impact on the amount of foraged pollen at the time of red clover pollination

Abstract

In this study, the impact of honey bee colony strength in the spring inspection on the colony strength at the time of pollination, the amount of foraged pollen and on the colony strength in autumn was observed. The honey bee colonies were, after the spring inspection, divided into two groups, based on the amount of bees. The weak colonies, in spring inspection, had an average up to 4 frames occupied by bees and the strong colonies, in the spring inspection, had more than 6 frames occupied by bees. In addition to the amount of bees, the amount of brood and food supplies were assessed in the inspections. It was determined that the stronger colonies had more pollen foragers in all three year of observation. The quantity of foraged pollen, in addition to strength in the spring inspection, was influenced by year. In two years (first and third) more pollen and larger quantity of red clover pollen was collected by the strong colonies, while in the second year, more pollen and a large quantity of red clover pollen was collected by weak colonies. In the fall inspections was found that the strong colonies still had more bees and brood, more pollen and, also, more honey in relation to the weak colonies. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR31057]

Comparative proteomic analysis of pollen of Trifolium pratense, T. alexandrinum and T. repens

“…It is considered that red clover is one of the richest sources of isoflavones. It was found that honey bees could be excellent foragers in red clover fields, foraging an average of 98.4% of the time during peak bloom on the target crop (Jevtic et al, 2013).…”