The effect of meteorological and environmental variables on food collection by honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Abstract

Bees are strongly dependent on environmental and climatic conditions. Anthropogenic and climate changes are mainly responsible for restricted access of bees to food resources. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of the most important meteorological and environmental variables affecting food collection by honey bees. Using electronic beehive scales, remote monitoring of daily hive weight changes of 60 colonies from 60 apiaries was performed during three beekeeping seasons. The hive weight changes mainly depended on the meteorological variables, particularly sunshine duration and air temperature. The topographic (e.g. landscape structure, forest habitat type, the share of the area with plant species attractive to honey bees) and spatial (e.g. proportion of forest, arable land, green area) variables contributed to the hive weight changes to a much lesser extent. Monitoring of the hive weight revealed that the meteorological conditions and the share of the area with most attractive plant species affected food collection by honey bees the most strongly. In conclusion, the long-term remote monitoring of honey bee colony hive weight changes on a large scale can be a source of substantial data about the impact of environmental and climate changes on bees and their food resources in order to restore and conserve the environment that will meet the nutritional needs of different species of bees.