Relating climatic factors to foraging behavior of honeybees (Apis mellifera) during blooming period of Guizotia abyssinica (L.F.)

摘要

nbsp;ThepresentstudywasconductedatMekelleAgriculturalResearchCenterwiththeobjectiveofdeterminingtheforagingbehavioroflocalhoneybeesinrelationtoclimaticfactors.ThiswasdoneduringthebloomingtimeofGuzotiaabyssinica(LF).Thedatawerecollectedduringfiveobservationsattimeintervalsof:8:30-3:30AM,10:30-11:30AM,12:30-13:30PM,14:30-15:30PMand16:30-17:30PMduringoneday.Eachobservationtimewasconsideredasatreatment.ThecollecteddatawereanalyzedusingGLMrepeatedmeasurementanalysisprocedureusingGenstatandSPSSsoftware.Thehighestnumbersofhoneybeeswererecordedat8:30-9:30AM,whiletheleastnumberofbeeswererecordedat16:30-17:30PM.Thenumberofbeesthatcollectednectarhadapositiveassociationwithairtemperature(r=0.67;P=0.01)andnegativerelationshipwithrelativehumidity(r=-0.59;P=0.001).However,thenumberofbeesthatcollectedpollenhadapositivecorrelationwithrelativehumidity(r=+0.62;P=0.001)andanegativeassociationwithairtemperature(r=-0.72;P=0.001).Thushoneybeeactivitywasmuchhigherduringearlymorninghours.Honeybeesalsopreferredarelativelyhigherairtemperaturefornectarthanpollencollection,whiletheypreferredahigherrelativehumidityforpollenthannectarcollection.Honeybeeandotherinsectpollinatorscanthereforebesavedfrompesticidehazardsbynotapplyingthesechemicalsattimeswhenbeeforagingactivityishighest.