Apiary Site Design
A model has been developed to help maximise the value of honey produced while also reducing hive movement. The model predicts how bee numbers, resource demand, foraging and honey production depends on annual flowering times and nectar production of different pant species within 1-2 km of the apiary site. The model can help find optimal species mixes for planting new year-round production sites, identify the best species for additional plantings on existing sites, highlight times where artificial feeding may be beneficial, and optimise hive numbers and timing of movement and allocation of hives among sites.
References
Picknoll JL, Poot P, Renton M. A New Approach to Inform Restoration and Management Decisions for Sustainable Apiculture. Sustainability. 2021; 13(11):6109. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116109
Picknoll JL, Poot P, Renton M. Synchronising plant nectar supply with bee nectar collection maximises honey production in a farm revegetation scenario. In preparation.
Picknoll JL, Poot P, Renton M. Optimizing timing of movement of hives among apiary sites. In preparation