Small areas of native plants strategically placed in and around fields of soya and corn (maize) seem to improve honeybee colony health and performance in areas of intensive farming.
So-called prairie strips are being introduced in the US Midwest as part of a US Conservation Reserve Program policy aiming to improve water quality and biodiversity and reduce soil erosion.
at Iowa State University and his colleagues compared the performance of honeybee colonies on corn and soya bean farms with prairie strips in Iowa and farms without the strips in the same areas.
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Bee colonies on farms with prairie strips collected 50 per cent more pollen than those without and were 24 per cent heavier at their peak in August, suggesting greater honey production. These colonies also had 24 per cent more worker bees at the end of the growing season and the number of bees surviving the winter was 20 per cent higher.
Such outcomes could mean that beekeepers reduce the cost of replacing colonies, as well as improving income from honey and renting out colonies for crop pollination.
鈥淭his study reiterates the importance of supplemental forage in improving honeybee colony growth and health, especially in agriculturally intense landscapes where bees most often face forage dearth,鈥� says at Oregon State University, who wasn鈥檛 involved in the work.
The western honeybee (Apis mellifera) isn鈥檛 native to the US, and there are concerns about the impacts it may have on native bee species through direct competition and pathogen transmission. Zhang鈥檚 team found that honeybees foraged from half the flower species in the strips.
鈥淸This] provides some evidence that honeybees may not deplete food resources for native bees, as is assumed by many,鈥� says Sagili. 鈥淭his information is critical as currently there is a gap in knowledge regarding competition between honeybees and native bees.鈥�
Journal of Applied Ecology
