Landscape factors influencing honey bee colony behavior in Southern California commercial apiaries.

ABSTRACT: Colony brood levels, frames of bees (adult bee mass) and internal hive temperature were monitored for 60 colonies for each of two years as they were moved from agricultural, tree crop and mountain landscapes in southern California to blueberry and almond pollination sites. Hive weight was also continuously monitored for 20 of those hives for 6 weeks for both years, during commercial pollination. Pesticide residues in wax, honey and beebread samples were analyzed by composite apiary samples. While colonies in mountain sites had more adult bees and brood than those in agricultural sites in August, by October brood levels were higher in colonies from agricultural sites. Though hives from different original landscapes differed in size in October, hive assessments revealed no differences betwee

SUBMITTER: Meikle WG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7081305 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature