Abstract
The individual and community-level melliferous potential of apiflora was evaluated in southwestern Vojvodina in order to assess its significance and contribution to the bee pasture. Seven plant communities belonging to ruderal, segetal and floodplain type of vegetation, with a total of 279 plant species were registered. Apifloristic and phytocoenological investigations included the determination and analysis of honey plants using the following parameters: total number, percentage, abundance and frequency of these species in the communities, as well as their intensity of pollen and nectar production. The coenotic coefficient of melliferousness (CCm) indicating the melliferous potential of each community, was calculated based on the above parameters. Although the greatest number of melliferous species was found in the ass. Chenopodio-Ambrosietum artemisiifoliae (132), the highest percentage (80%) of them was registered in the ass. Consolido-Polygonetum avicularis. Considering the coefficients of nectar and pollen production, the most valuable honey plants commonly present in the majority of communities were: Cirsium arvense, Rubus caesius, Lythrum salicaria, Daucus carota, Trifolium pratense, Dipsacus laciniatus, Medicago sativa, Asclepias syriaca, Cichorium intybus and Taraxacum officinale. The low abundance and frequency of melliferous species within the Consolido-Polygonetum avicularis, Polygonetum convolvulo-avicularis and Populetum nigrae-albae communities indicated their poor contribution to the bee pasture. Within ruderal vegetation, the highest CCm was registered in Amorpho-Typhaetum, providing, theoretically, the richest food resource for the honeybees in the investigated area.
Highlights
Serbia is known for its rich and diverse flora, opportunities for profitable beekeeping are limited because in some types of vegetation only a small number of good melliferous plants exist or the climate conditions are unfavorable
Comparative analysis of detected phytocoenoses on the territory of northwestern Serbia showed that the greatest number or percentage of melliferous species of the floristically rich communities does not imply the highest melliferous potential
By analyzing the parameters of melliferous potential, it was found that the percentage share of melliferous species in the analyzed communities was not positively correlated with their coefficient of melliferousness (CCm) values
Summary
Serbia is known for its rich and diverse flora, opportunities for profitable beekeeping are limited because in some types of vegetation only a small number of good melliferous plants exist or the climate conditions are unfavorable. In Serbia, over the years, many investigations focused on segetal weeds (Gajić, 1955; Kovačević, 1957, 1961). A detailed review of weed communities with their syntaxonomic affiliation, as well as an inventory of all weed species in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, especially among arable crops, was reported by Kojić (1972). During the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century, a significant contribution was made in the investigation of weed flora and vegetation, especially of cereal crops and orchards (Stepić, 1984; Stefanović, 1987; Crnčević, 1994; Ajder, 1996; Kojić et al, 2004; Vrbničanin et al, 2008; Jarić, 2009)
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