Spatial distribution of apiaries in the municipality of Ribeira do Pombal, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

The number of beehives installed per apiary should take into account the potential of bee pasture, the existence of nearby apiaries and ease of management. The study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of apiaries in the municipality of Ribeira do Pombal, State of Bahia, Brazil, in order to estimate the production of honey per apiary based on the relationship between the number of hives established and the distance between apiaries. For the analysis of spacing, a image of the municipality was acquired by the Landsat-8 satellite and the location points of the georeferenced apiaries. The apiaries were grouped into Classes according to the number of hives: <25 hives.apiary-1 (I), 25-30 (II) and> 30 hives.apiary-1 (III). The apiaries were projected on a map with 1,500 m buffer corresponding to the radius of action of the bees’ flight. A total of 7,198 hives were computed in 290 apiaries distributed in classes: I (47.58%), II (23.45%) and III (28.96%). There were 4.14% apiaries without overlap; and class I apiaries (97%) showed greater overlap. We recommend zoning the beekeeping potential and planning the distribution of apiaries in order to meet the carrying capacity, logistical optimization and for higher productive yield.