Year: 2011
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) populations have experienced serious losses in Europe and North America (Neumann & Carreck, 2010; Oldroyd, 2007). These losses highlights the potential risks for our natural and agricultural landscapes through lack of pollination, and the repercussions these would have for human activities and nutrition (Aizen & Harder, 2009; Gallai et al., 2009; Klein et al., 2007; Rader et al., 2009; Ollerton et al., 2011). There is a great deal of concerns about the decline of honeybees across the world and what has been termed colony collapse disorder in the USA. Honeybee health is influenced by biotic factors such as availability of resources, competitors, pathogens, parasites, and predators, and abiotic factors such as climate and pollutants. Colony losses are likely due to multiple factors (Oldroyd, 2007), and most research to date has focused on epidemiological studies affecting honeybee health (Cox-Foster et al., 2007; Johnson et al., 2009; Le Conte et al., 2010), and on the negative effects of agricultural pesticides (Decourtye & Devillers, 2010; Desneux et al., 2007; Johnson et al., 2010; Kevan, 1977). Although the putative causes of this decline are still being investigated, it has long been recognized that a lack of food, and particularly a dearth of pollen, within intensively farmed agricultural landscapes has contributed to the loss of colonies (Mattila & Otis, 2006; Maurizio, 1950; Naug, 2009). Beekeepers have frequently cited starvation and poor foraging conditions as the principal causes of the recent bee losses (Allier et al., 2010; vanEngelsdorp et al., 2007). Naug (2009) suggested that nutritional stress due to habitat loss has played an important role in honeybee colony collapse, and thereby stressed the usefulness of protecting and enhancing the availability of flower resources by using rules and policies for efficient management of agricultural farmlands. Decourtye et al. (2010) reviewed potential approaches to provide and maintain diverse floral resources in a landscape, giving particular consideration to herbaceous plants, to sustain bee populations, and support honeybee health and beekeeping. These approaches include the cultivation and maintenance of large strips (6-12 m in width) of native or non native melliferous plants maintained between crop fields, fallow areas, field margins, and conservation buffer strips. To set up an favourable landscape for honeybees,
Source: InTech eBooks
DOI: 10.5772/24523
Authors: Decourtye Axel, Alaux Cedric, Odoux Jean-Francois, Henry Mickael, Vaissiere Bernard, Le Conte
Language: English
Topic: Plant and animal studies
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W1555898211