The Nutritional Year-Cycle of Italian Honey Bees ( Apis mellifera ligustica ) in a Southern Temperate Climate

Stephane Knoll, Valeria Fadda, Fahad Ahmed and Maria Grazia Cappai ()
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Stephane Knoll: Chair of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Productions, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Valeria Fadda: Chair of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Productions, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Fahad Ahmed: Chair of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Productions, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Maria Grazia Cappai: Chair of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Productions, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: Nutrition is a key aspect influencing honey bee health and overwintering. Since honey bee seasonality in southern temperate climates represents a significant research gap, this study conducted long-term monitoring of honey bees in the Mediterranean (Sassari, Italy). Specifically, individual weight, fat body, and size measurements (head, thorax, abdomen, and total body) were recorded monthly so to detect changes in the nutrient storage of worker bees during an annual cycle. Data were analysed according to sampling date, climate (temperature, precipitation, and daylength), and flower diversity and were conducted for nurse and forager bees separately. The nutritional honey bee year-cycle generally followed the nectar flow and showed two critical timepoints: summer and winter dearth. A short cessation of activities in late fall/early winter coupled with an increase in nutrient storage indicated the presence of winter bees. Precipitation was found to play an important role in honey bee nutrition in the study area through its impacts on colony demography and plants in particular illustrating how climate change could pose a threat to European honey bee populations in the future. These results provide valuable insights into the nutritional dynamics of Apis mellifera ligustica in the Mediterranean that could support management decisions to improve overwintering success and prevent unnecessary colony losses.

Keywords: winter bees; nutrition; morphometry; melliferous plants; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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