Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

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Screening of Potential Herbaceous Honey Plants for Beekeeping Development

Received: 20 September 2014    Accepted: 05 October 2014    Published: 30 October 2014
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Abstract

Availability of adequate perennial and annual sources of nectar and pollen is the most limiting factor in the survival, abundance and distribution of honeybees. The study was therefore conducted to screen the best performing bee forages from eight plant species with a view to selecting for honey production for high and mid land agro-ecologies. The planting materials were Becium grandiflorum, Vicia sativa, Guizotia abyssinica, Echium plantaginium, Trifolium rupplianum, Brassica carinata, Sinaps alba and Fagophyrum esculentum. The species were evaluated based on germination rate, number of flower heads per plants, time to set flower, foraging intensity of honeybees and flowering length. Accordingly, Becium grandiflorum, Guizotia abyssinica, Brassica carinata, Fagophyrum esculentum and Trifolium rupplianum were good under rain fed condition while Sinaps alba was found to perform better under irrigation fed. On contrary, the study found that Echium plantaginium; Vicia sativa and Fagophyrum esculentum were performed better under both rain fed and irrigation conditions. Mean number of flower heads per 1m2 for all studied plant species were similar except Echium plantaginium which was significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to the rest. Honeybees foraging intensity and time for different plant species were significantly different. From these investigations, it is concluded that developing better performing plant species through use of irrigation and rain fed conditions will alleviate the shortage of bee forages and help in increasing honey production.

DOI 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19
Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 3, Issue 5, October 2014)
Page(s) 386-391
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Bee Forage Herbs, Flowering Period, Pollen Yield and Foraging Intensity

References
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[2] Ayalew, K. 2001. Bee Behaviour and Comparison of Hive Efficiency in Tigray. BoANR
[3] Baptist B.A. and R.K.W. Punchihewa, 1983. A preliminary Analysis of the principal factors will affect honey production in Sri Lanka. In: Second International Conference on apiculture in Tropical climates 1989. NewDelhi.P.95
[4] Collett, T. S., Graham, P. and Durier, V. (2003). Route learning by insects. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 13, 718-725.
[5] Crane, E., 1990.Bees and beekeeping, science, practice and world resource Heinemann Newness, London
[6] Edwards, S., 1976. Some wild flowering plants of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa University press. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
[7] Evans, L.T.1957. The broad bean in experimental control of plant growth. PP 124 - 128.
[8] Fichtl, R. and Admasu, A. 1994. Honey bee flora of Ethiopia .The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University and Deutscher Entwicklungsdieenst (DED). Mergaf Verlag, Germany.
[9] Gezahegn, T. (2007). Adaptation trial of honey plants: adaptability trials of temperate honey plants in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Beekeepers Association newsletter Vol.5, NO.1, pp 16-17.
[10] John B A, Gordon R H and Parrish D J 1987 Plant Science. McGraw-Hill publishing Company.126582.
[11] Menzel, R., Geiger, K., Chittka, L., Joerges, J., Kunze, J. and Muller, U. (1996). The knowledge base of bee navigation. J. Exp. Biol. 199, 141-146.
[12] Moore, D. (2001). Honey bee circadian clocks: behavioral control from individual workers to whole-colony rhythms. J. Insect Physiol. 47, 843-857.
[13] WADO.2004.Walmara district agricultural district office 9Archive).
[14] Wakene Negasa and Heluf Gebrekidan .2003.Form of phosphorus and status of available micronutrients under different land use systems of Alfisolsin Bako area of Ethiopia : Ethiopian Journal of Natural Resources .5(1) :21.
[15] Wehner, R. (2003). Desert ant navigation: how miniature brains solve complex tasks. J. Comp. Physiol. A 189, 579-588.
[16] Workneh, A., pusker and Karippai, R. 2008. Adapting improved box hive in Atsbi wemberta District of Eastern Zone, Tigray Region: determinants and financial benefits. IPMs (Improving Productivity and Market Access) of Ethiopian Farmers Project Working Paper 10 ILRI (International Livestock Research Institution). Nairobi, Kenya. pp30.
Author Information
  • Holeta Bee Research Centre, Oromia Agriculture Research Institute, Holeta, Ethiopia

  • Holeta Bee Research Centre, Oromia Agriculture Research Institute, Holeta, Ethiopia

  • Holeta Bee Research Centre, Oromia Agriculture Research Institute, Holeta, Ethiopia

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  • APA Style

    Tura Bareke Kifle, Kibebew Wakjira Hora, Admassu Addi Merti. (2014). Screening of Potential Herbaceous Honey Plants for Beekeeping Development. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 3(5), 386-391. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19

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    ACS Style

    Tura Bareke Kifle; Kibebew Wakjira Hora; Admassu Addi Merti. Screening of Potential Herbaceous Honey Plants for Beekeeping Development. Agric. For. Fish. 2014, 3(5), 386-391. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19

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    AMA Style

    Tura Bareke Kifle, Kibebew Wakjira Hora, Admassu Addi Merti. Screening of Potential Herbaceous Honey Plants for Beekeeping Development. Agric For Fish. 2014;3(5):386-391. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19,
      author = {Tura Bareke Kifle and Kibebew Wakjira Hora and Admassu Addi Merti},
      title = {Screening of Potential Herbaceous Honey Plants for Beekeeping Development},
      journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
      volume = {3},
      number = {5},
      pages = {386-391},
      doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20140305.19},
      abstract = {Availability of adequate perennial and annual sources of nectar and pollen is the most limiting factor in the survival, abundance and distribution of honeybees. The study was therefore conducted to screen the best performing bee forages from eight plant species with a view to selecting for honey production for high and mid land agro-ecologies. The planting materials were Becium grandiflorum, Vicia sativa, Guizotia abyssinica, Echium plantaginium, Trifolium rupplianum, Brassica carinata, Sinaps alba and Fagophyrum esculentum. The species were evaluated based on germination rate, number of flower heads per plants, time to set flower, foraging intensity of honeybees and flowering length. Accordingly, Becium grandiflorum, Guizotia abyssinica, Brassica carinata, Fagophyrum esculentum and Trifolium rupplianum were good under rain fed condition while Sinaps alba was found to perform better under irrigation fed. On contrary, the study found that Echium plantaginium; Vicia sativa and Fagophyrum esculentum were performed better under both rain fed and irrigation conditions. Mean number of flower heads per 1m2 for all studied plant species were similar except Echium plantaginium which was significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to the rest. Honeybees foraging intensity and time for different plant species were significantly different. From these investigations, it is concluded that developing better performing plant species through use of irrigation and rain fed conditions will alleviate the shortage of bee forages and help in increasing honey production.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Screening of Potential Herbaceous Honey Plants for Beekeeping Development
    AU  - Tura Bareke Kifle
    AU  - Kibebew Wakjira Hora
    AU  - Admassu Addi Merti
    Y1  - 2014/10/30
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19
    DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19
    T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    SP  - 386
    EP  - 391
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5648
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.19
    AB  - Availability of adequate perennial and annual sources of nectar and pollen is the most limiting factor in the survival, abundance and distribution of honeybees. The study was therefore conducted to screen the best performing bee forages from eight plant species with a view to selecting for honey production for high and mid land agro-ecologies. The planting materials were Becium grandiflorum, Vicia sativa, Guizotia abyssinica, Echium plantaginium, Trifolium rupplianum, Brassica carinata, Sinaps alba and Fagophyrum esculentum. The species were evaluated based on germination rate, number of flower heads per plants, time to set flower, foraging intensity of honeybees and flowering length. Accordingly, Becium grandiflorum, Guizotia abyssinica, Brassica carinata, Fagophyrum esculentum and Trifolium rupplianum were good under rain fed condition while Sinaps alba was found to perform better under irrigation fed. On contrary, the study found that Echium plantaginium; Vicia sativa and Fagophyrum esculentum were performed better under both rain fed and irrigation conditions. Mean number of flower heads per 1m2 for all studied plant species were similar except Echium plantaginium which was significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to the rest. Honeybees foraging intensity and time for different plant species were significantly different. From these investigations, it is concluded that developing better performing plant species through use of irrigation and rain fed conditions will alleviate the shortage of bee forages and help in increasing honey production.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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