Population ecology and distribution pattern of honey bee plants in Aghondi National Bee Reserve Central, Tanzania
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Date
2024
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
The contribution of bee plants in the form of floral rewards for
beekeeping development depends on plant species diversity,
distribution, flowering phenology, and honey bee visitations.
Unfortunately, such information is still lacking for many potentially
good sites for honey production. Honey bee plants are being
threatened by unsustainable human development activities, and
thwart rural development initiatives that depend on honey production
as an additional income activity. To address this information gap and
to improve honey productivity, this study provides a better
understanding of honey bee plants within the Aghondi National Bee
Reserve in Central Tanzania. Specifically, the study aimed to address
two primary research questions related to respective objectives: what
is the diversity, density, and distribution status of honey bee plants?
This objective involved assessing honey bee plant diversity, density,
and distribution of honey bee plants and (ii) when is the flowering
period of honey bee plants and what honey bee visitation patterns of
key honey bee plants? This objective was to determine flowering
phenology and honey bee visitation rates on selected honey bee
plants. Data collection utilized different methods and sampling
approaches. For the first objective, a systematic sampling design was
used to sample vegetation in 85 square plots in three vegetation
types. For the third and fourth objectives, five honey bee plants were
selected based on the abundance in three vegetation types and
monitored to profile their flowering and phenology, and 34 plants were
studied for honey bee visitation rate for 20 weeks.
For the first and second objectives, a total of 79 honey bee plant
species were recorded, belonging to 28 families and 5 genera. The
distribution of species was relatively even, resulting in the
identification of three distinct plant communities. Furthermore, the
study indicated that the plant density was generally higher for the
shrubs, notably Vepris nobilis than for trees and climbers. Moreover,
for the second objective, honey bee plants exhibit continuous flower
openings throughout the day, with a notably higher number of flowers
opening during the morning (P= 0.0013). The flowering distribution period was longer, lasting for one two to three months with;
Julbernadia globiflora going for 88 days, Combretum obovatum for 72
days, Combretum celastroides for 62 days, Pseudoprosopis fischeri
for 32 days, Baphia massaiensis for 53 days. Furthermore, the results
revealed that the highest mean number of visits of honey bees was
observed in Albizia petersiana (115± 36) and Commiphora mollis
(99±30) while the lowest was observed in Pseudoprosopis fischeri
(0.818±1.3) and Dichrostachys cinerea (0.0818±0.75). The honey bee
visitation rate increased with floral rewards (r 2 = 0.128) and the
number of flowers (r2 = 0.157). In addition, temperature (r2 = 0.001)
and humidity (r2 = 0.004) had no significant effect (P> 0.005) on the
honey bee visitation rate for the selected plants.
These results suggest that the reserve contributes substantially to the
honey bee forages which are a prerequisite for honey bee productivity
and that the bee foraging is modulated by both biophysical and
environmental factors. This information is useful for improving honey
production strategies such as establishing many apiaries and
conserving honey bee plants in Tanzania and elsewhere where bee
honey production is a growing priority to develop a beekeeping
calendar to maximize honey production within the reserve.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Honey bee plant, diversity, honey bees, flowering phenology, honey bee visitation, Aghondi bee reserve.