Abstract
Pollen resources may become a constraint for the honey bee in cereal farming agrosystems and thus influence honey bee colony development. This survey intended to increase knowledge on bee ecology in order to understand how farming systems can provide bee forage throughout the year. We conducted a 1-year study to investigate the flower range exploited in an agrarian environment in western France, the physico-chemical composition of honey bee-collected pollen, the territorial biodiversity visited by the bee at different periods, and the relationships between these three datasets. Palynological analyses showed the importance of maize among crop pollens and that of weeds during the food shortage period. Pollen protein varied from 16% to 29% and lipids from 7% to 24%. The contribution of different habitats to pollen harvest, was from crops (62%), woods (32%), grasslands (4%), and gardens (1%).
Highlights
Since 1962, agrosystems have been considerably intensified due to the Common Agricultural Policy and farming systems represent the major land use (e.g., 46% in France) (Agreste 2011). This intensification results in the standardization of land use, in the mechanization of farming practices, and in the increasing use of inputs creating environmental problems (Benton et al 2003)
All agrosystems host a number of pollinator insects which play a crucial role in agriculture
Attractive crops are characterized by varieties, sowing date, irrigation, and pesticide use, weeds which depend on farming practices, trees and shrubs, especially forest borders and hedgerows, grasslands, gardens, and anthropic structures
Summary
Since 1962, agrosystems have been considerably intensified due to the Common Agricultural Policy and farming systems represent the major land use (e.g., 46% in France) (Agreste 2011). This intensification results in the standardization of land use (in particular, grasslands are replaced by cereals), in the mechanization of farming practices, and in the increasing use of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) creating environmental problems (Benton et al 2003). One of the key species for pollination is the honey bee which has a very large foraging range and uses different landscape foraging habitats. Honey bees are spatial collectors and pollen their harvest could be considered as a “global” picture of the resources surrounding floral resources at any time of the year
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