Weight Watching and the Effect of Landscape on Honeybee Colony
Productivity: Investigating the Value of Colony Weight Monitoring for the
Beekeeping Industry
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0132473

Abstract

Over the last few decades, a gradual departure away from traditional
agricultural practices has resulted in alterations to the composition of
the countryside and landscapes across Europe. In the face of such changes,
monitoring the development and productivity of honey bee colonies from
different sites can give valuable insight on the influence of landscape on
their productivity and might point towards future directions for modernized
beekeeping practices. Using data on honeybee colony weights provided by
electronic scales spread across Denmark, we investigated the effect of the
immediate landscape on colony productivity. In order to extract meaningful
information, data manipulation was necessary prior to analysis as a result
of different management regimes or scales malfunction. Once this was
carried out, *we were able to show that colonies situated in landscapes
composed of more than 50% urban areas were significantly more productive
than colonies situated in those with more than 50% agricultural areas or
those in mixed areas*. As well as exploring some of the potential reasons
for the observed differences, we discuss the value of weight monitoring of
colonies on a large scale.


(Bold Mine)

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