Beehives are normally seen in places where there is an abundance of flowers.Why?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
Honey and most other hive products do not originate directly with honeybees: they are natural products which the bees have collected and processed.
The bees visit flowering plants to obtain nectar, which is the source of honey, as well as pollen. As was seen in Chapter 2, many plant species possess, inside their flowers near the base of the petals, glands called nectaries, which secrete nectar. (Some plants have nectaries unconnected with their flowers, called extrafloral nectaries.) It should be recalled, however, that not all plant species have nectaries that secrete enough nectar to attract bees.
The concentration of sugar in nectar depends on several factors: the plant species and variety, the soil type, the time of day of collection, the temperature and relative humidity, etc. As a rule, plants with a higher sugar concentration in their nectar are more attractive to bees than those with weaker nectars, because in the process of making honey the bees are obliged to get rid of excess water in the nectar, so that in treating more highly concentrated nectars, they need to expend less time and energy.
A. Honey plants and pollen plants
In order to survive, prosper and be productive, honeybee colonies, as has already been observed, must have a supply of both nectar and pollen in adequate quantities. Not all plant species are equally good for beekeeping. Some supply both nectar and pollen abundantly when in bloom, and these are often called honey plants, because they are best suited for honey production. Plants producing nectar but little or no pollen are also considered to be honey plants. Other plants, however, may yield pollen but little or no nectar. These pollen plants are also important in beekeeping, especially at the time of colony build-up, when the bees need large amounts of the protein contained in pollen for their brood-rearing.
Ideally, a good beekeeping area is one in which honey and pollen plants grow abundantly and with a relatively long blooming season. Such areas are however not always available or easy to find. The beekeeper therefore combines his skill in colony management with migratory practices in order to provide his bees with good, productive foraging environments. He must know the time and duration of the blossoming season of every major honey plant, including the environmental factors affecting them, and make a reasonable assessment of the supporting capacity of each area, i.e. the number of colonies that can be put to productive work there.
Since the practice of modern beekeeping is relatively new in Asia, the compilation of economic bee forages and the identification of areas suitable for beekeeping are still far from complete. Asian beekeepers may find useful information in many internationally-published books, pamphlets and technical articles which contain lists of honey and pollen plants, some of which may already be abundant in parts of Asia, waiting to be exploited by beekeepers. A list of some commonly-known honey plants recorded in some Asian countries appears in
B. Floral calendars
A floral calendar for beekeeping is a time-table that indicates to the beekeeper the approximate date and duration of the blossoming periods of the important honey and pollen plants in his area. The experienced beekeeper will have acquired much of this information over the years, but published charts are also available for many areas.
The floral calendar is one of the most useful tools of the apicultural extension worker. It enables him to inform the beekeepers on what to expect in bee-forage availability, and when, so that they can manage their colonies in the most rational manner. Beekeeping in any specific area cannot develop without an understanding of the calendar, and for migratory beekeeping, special calendars for the different foraging zones along the migration route are required.
Answer: The bees need the nectar from the flowers to make honey.So they are seen normally in places where there is an abundance of flowers.They also help in cross pollination.