Bee Pollinators of Feed Crops of Ganja-Dashkesan Economic Region of Azerbaijan

Abstract

As a result of the study of bee pollinators of forage plants in the Ganja-Dashkesan economic region, 128 species of bees belonging to 6 families and 32 genera were identified. The first bees appear in mid-March in low-lying semi-deserts and foothill steppes up to altitudes of no more than 400 m above sea level (10 species from the families Megachilidae, Andrenidae and Apidae) Since April, a lot of spring species appear (40 species from the families Megachilidae, Andrenidae, Apidae, Melittidae and Halictidae). In May, the bee fauna changes dramatically both quantitatively and qualitatively. 82 species of bees already fly. In June, the largest number of bee species fly (91 species). The second month of summer, July, is characterized by a slightly smaller number of species of flying bees (88 species). This is explained, first of all, by a decrease in the food supply, i. e. flowering vegetation, which is richest in spring and early summer — June. The last month of summer, August, is characterized by an even greater decrease in bee species — 62. Since the beginning of autumn, in September, the number of flying species has sharply decreased (22 species). Only bees of the Hylaeusand Bombus genera retain a high number of species. In October, the number of bee species naturally becomes almost half as small (10 species). The species composition and abundance of forage pollinators changes throughout the season. For example, in the phase of the first flowering (late May – early June), bees of the genera Andrena, Eucera, Megachile are found in alfalfa fields, and in July-August, before the second cutting, an increase in the number of bees Halictus and Bombus was noted. Effective pollinators of forage plants of economic importance — oligotrophs on legumes Melitta leporina, Nomia diversipes, polytrophic species Andrena carbonaria, A. ovatula, Melitturga clavicornis, Halictus tetrazonius, Lasioglossum leucozonium, Megachile centuncularis, Osmia coerulescens, Eucera clypeata, Xylocopa violacea, Bombus lucorum and others. These species accounted for 60% of the bees in the alfalfa plots.