Performance of two honey bee subspecies during harsh weather and Acacia gerrardii nectar-rich flow

Abstract

Both climatic factors and bee forage characteristics affect the population size and productivity of honey bee colonies. To our knowledge, no scientific investigation has as yet considered the potential effect of nectar-rich bee forage exposed to drastic subtropical weather conditions on the performance of honey bee colonies. This study investigated the performance of the honey bee subspecies Apis mellifera jemenitica Ruttner (Yemeni) and Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann (Carniolan) in weather that was hot and dry and in an environment of nectar-rich flora.The brood production, food storage, bee population and honey yield of Yemeni (native) and Carniolan (imported) colonies on Talh trees (Acacia gerrardii Benth.), a nectar-rich, subtropical, and summer bee forage source in Central Arabia were evaluated. Owing to their structural and behavioral adaptations, the Yemeni bees constructed stronger (high population size) colonies than the Carniolan bees. Although both groups yielded similar amounts of Talh honey, the Yemeni bees consumed their stored honey rapidly if not timely harvested. A. m. jemenitica has a higher performance than A. m. carnica during extremely hot-dry conditions and A. gerrardii nectar-rich flow.

Comparison of the activity and productivity of Carniolan (Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann) and Yemeni (Apis mellifera jemenitica Ruttner) subspecies under environmental conditions of the Al-Ahsa oasis of eastern Saudi Arabia

“…The monthly average area of worker sealed broods in Yemeni bee colonies exceeded the average in Carniolan bee colonies by 20.33%. Similar results were recorded by Alqarni, 1995, Alqarni et al, 2014 in the Assir region, Al-Ghamdi et al (2017) in the Al-Baha region of southwestern Saudi Arabia, and Awad et al (2017) in central Arabia. The monthly average brood rearing of drones in Yemeni bee colonies exceeded the average in Carniolan bee colonies by 215.93%.…”

“…The average monthly area of stored pollen in Yemeni bee colonies exceeded the pollen stored by Carniolan bee colonies by 29.50%. Similar results were obtained by Al-Ghamdi et al (2017) in the Al-Baha region of southwestern Saudi Arabia and Awad et al (2017) in central Arabia. The highest numbers of incoming workers with pollen loads were recorded in May when alfalfa was blooming, followed by March, which coincided with the blooming period of date palms ( Phoenix dactylifera L.), rape ( Brassica napus L.), Cucurbitaceae and sunflower (Taha, 2015a, Taha, 2015b).…”

“…The activity of a honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.) colony depends on several factors that arise simultaneously and in reaction to some environmental conditions. These factors include nectar and pollen floral resources (Taha, 2000, Taha, 2005, Taha, 2007, Taha et al, 2006, Taha et al, 2016, Taha and Bayoumi, 2009), colony population size (Georgijev et al, 2003, Taha, 2005, Jevtić et al, 2009, Taha and AL-Kahtani, 2013, de Mattos et al, 2015), season (AL-Kahtani, 2003, Shawer et al, 2003, Indu et al, 2007, Taha and AL-Kahtani, 2013), and species/subspecies of honeybees (Khanbash, 1989, Rahman and Rahman, 1993, Tan et al, 2012, Alqarni et al, 2014, Taha et al, 2016, Al-Ghamdi et al, 2017, Awad et al, 2017). In tropical and sub-tropical areas, foraging for nectar and pollen is a continuous process throughout the year where bee floral resources are available (Neupane and Thapa, 2005).…”

Differential Foraging of Indigenous and Exotic Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Races on Nectar-Rich Flow in a Subtropical Ecosystem

“…The need to import A.m. carnica is due to the fact that the native bee population is not sufficient to meet the required colonies for beekeeping activity in the country. Although the native bees always showed higher values in bee population, both subspecies produced similar honey yield at the end of the season [22,24]. However, the exotic colonies population declined and diminished, unlike the native colonies, which stay healthy for the next flowering season.…”

“…In addition to honeybees, many flower visitors visit the A. gerrardii tree flower heads. Megachilid bees ranked first before honeybees in the zoophily of Acacia flower heads [21], and considerable yield of Acacia honey is produced by honeybee colonies, despite the hyper hot-dry weather conditions that accompany Acacia flowering [22].…”