Forest melliferous resources as a sustainable development factor of beekeeping

Abstract

The management of beekeeping on forest lands is a vivid manifestation of the multifunctional use of forests, which is based on its target cultivation. The work shows the development of beekeeping, identifies factors affecting the sustainable development of this industry, sets priorities for increasing the efficiency of utilization of forest honey resources of the Southern Urals, including the main melliferous - Tilia cordata Mill. The nature and characteristics of the influence of weather and climatic factors on the growth of bee colonies, their physiological state, composition, age representation of natural melliferous woody plants, the onset dates and the duration of their flowering were determined. It was found that, of the silvicultural and inventory indicators, the composition and age, density and type of forest most strongly influence the yield of honey. The activities of forest care are close to them in terms of importance. A system of organizational measures has been proposed, through which high efficiency of using forest feed resources and sustainable development of beekeeping can be achieved: keeping an optimal number of bee colonies in an apiary - up to 150 hives, based on providing one bee colony of 50-60 thousand individuals with at least 130 kg of nectar; the location of apiaries in the 3-kilometer zone of growth of forest melliferous plants, taking into account the productive emergence of bees in the 2.5-3.0 km; establishing clear nomadic routes based on a geobotanic inventory of forest and agricultural melliferous plants. Increasing the target indicator - the nectar productivity of forests without a gap in their use both in space and in time - can be achieved by growing multi-tiered forests of different age from Tilia cordata Mill.