Practices and Strategies for Sustainable Apiculture and Pollinators

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Farm Animal Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2024 | Viewed by 1171

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Bees Breeding, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Breeding, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: Apis mellifera; honeybee; pesticides; biotechnology; physiology; biochemistry; insect behavior
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable apiculture is currently one of the most dynamically developing agricultural disciplines. New techniques, methods, and strategies for working with bees and protecting them on crops are constantly emerging.

This Special Issue aims to bring together advances in beekeeping that enable honeybees and other pollinators to function in changing agricultural conditions. Changing beekeeping is based on new methods of prevention and treatment. In addition, changes in apiary management include the development of IT techniques and artificial intelligence. Factors affecting pollinators include various pesticides, monocultures, loss of biodiversity, etc. Changes in beekeeping related to climate change and the structure of plant cultivation are also important. Research is being carried out on changes in the physiology, behavior, and expression of selected genes in honey bees to determine the degree of impact of the agricultural environment on their bodies. In addition, agricultural practices that enable the safe presence of pollinators on crops are often advisable. Agricultural practices that support pollinators include constantly emerging new bee benefits, sustainable use of plant protection products, and post-harvest plant cultivation. Part of the land area is also left for organic crops or strips of pollinator-friendly plants. Both of these fields, beekeeping and agriculture, should support each other and are looking for pollinator-friendly solutions, including honey bees.

Dr. Paweł Migdał
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • sustainable apiculture
  • pollinators
  • honey bee
  • pesticides
  • pollinator physiology
  • behavior and gene expression
  • agricultural stressors

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 3139 KiB  
Article
Brewers’ Spent Grain as an Alternative Plant Protein Component of Honey Bee Feed
by Paweł Migdał, Martyna Wilk, Ewelina Berbeć and Natalia Białecka
Agriculture 2024, 14(6), 929; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14060929 - 12 Jun 2024
Viewed by 905
Abstract
Bee organisms need nutrients to function properly. Deficiencies of any nutrients decrease the condition and shorten the lifespan of insects. Moreover, protein deficiency decreases honey bee queen productivity and increases aggression in bee colonies. All of these aspects affect the efficiency and the [...] Read more.
Bee organisms need nutrients to function properly. Deficiencies of any nutrients decrease the condition and shorten the lifespan of insects. Moreover, protein deficiency decreases honey bee queen productivity and increases aggression in bee colonies. All of these aspects affect the efficiency and the economic aspect of beekeeping production. Limited access to sustainable feed sources for bee colonies during the season forces beekeepers to search for new sources of nutrients, particularly protein. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential use of brewers’ spent grain, which is a by-product of beer production, as a source of protein additive in bees’ diet. Two types of brewers’ spent grain were examined: that from light beer and that from dark porter beer. The spent grains, especially porter spent grains, improved the hemolymph protein content compared to bees fed with sugar cake without additives. It did not fully correspond to the protein levels obtained from bees fed cake with the addition of pollen, but it may be a substitute. The studies showed that brewers’ spent grain has the potential to be used as an alternative plant protein component of honey bee feed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practices and Strategies for Sustainable Apiculture and Pollinators)
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