A New Approach to Inform Restoration and Management Decisions for Sustainable Apiculture

Joanne Lee Picknoll, Pieter Poot and Michael Renton
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Joanne Lee Picknoll: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Pieter Poot: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Michael Renton: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Habitat loss has reduced the available resources for apiarists and is a key driver of poor colony health, colony loss, and reduced honey yields. The biggest challenge for apiarists in the future will be meeting increasing demands for pollination services, honey, and other bee products with limited resources. Targeted landscape restoration focusing on high-value or high-yielding forage could ensure adequate floral resources are available to sustain the growing industry. Tools are currently needed to evaluate the likely productivity of potential sites for restoration and inform decisions about plant selections and arrangements and hive stocking rates, movements, and placements. We propose a new approach for designing sites for apiculture, centred on a model of honey production that predicts how changes to plant and hive decisions affect the resource supply, potential for bees to collect resources, consumption of resources by the colonies, and subsequently, amount of honey that may be produced. The proposed model is discussed with reference to existing models, and data input requirements are discussed with reference to an Australian case study area. We conclude that no existing model exactly meets the requirements of our proposed approach, but components of several existing models could be combined to achieve these needs.

Keywords: Apis mellifera; bee; honey production; landscape design; restoration; model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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