Population demography of feral honeybee colonies in central European forests
Zitieren Sie bitte immer diese URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301335
- European honeybee populations are considered to consist only of managed colonies, but recent censuses have revealed that wild/feral colonies still occur in various countries. To gauge the ecological and evolutionary relevance of wild-living honeybees, information is needed on their population demography. We monitored feral honeybee colonies in German forests for up to 4 years through regular inspections of woodpecker cavity trees and microsatellite genotyping. Each summer, about 10% of the trees were occupied, corresponding to average densitiesEuropean honeybee populations are considered to consist only of managed colonies, but recent censuses have revealed that wild/feral colonies still occur in various countries. To gauge the ecological and evolutionary relevance of wild-living honeybees, information is needed on their population demography. We monitored feral honeybee colonies in German forests for up to 4 years through regular inspections of woodpecker cavity trees and microsatellite genotyping. Each summer, about 10% of the trees were occupied, corresponding to average densities of 0.23 feral colonies km\(^{−2}\) (an estimated 5% of the regional honeybee populations). Populations decreased moderately until autumn but dropped massively during winter, so that their densities were only about 0.02 colonies km\(^{−2}\) in early spring. During the reproductive (swarming) season, in May and June, populations recovered, with new swarms preferring nest sites that had been occupied in the previous year. The annual survival rate and the estimated lifespan of feral colonies (n = 112) were 10.6% and 0.6 years, respectively. We conclude that managed forests in Germany do not harbour self-sustaining feral honeybee populations, but they are recolonized every year by swarms escaping from apiaries.…
Autor(en): | Patrick L. Kohl, Benjamin Rutschmann, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301335 |
Dokumentart: | Artikel / Aufsatz in einer Zeitschrift |
Institute der Universität: | Fakultät für Biologie / Theodor-Boveri-Institut für Biowissenschaften |
Sprache der Veröffentlichung: | Englisch |
Titel des übergeordneten Werkes / der Zeitschrift (Englisch): | Royal Society Open Science |
ISSN: | 2054-5703 |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2022 |
Band / Jahrgang: | 9 |
Heft / Ausgabe: | 8 |
Aufsatznummer: | 220565 |
Originalveröffentlichung / Quelle: | Royal Society Open Science 2022, 9(8):220565. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220565 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220565 |
Allgemeine fachliche Zuordnung (DDC-Klassifikation): | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Freie Schlagwort(e): | beech forests; life-history traits; nest site selection; pollinator decline; swarming; wild honeybees |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 29.03.2023 |
Sammlungen: | Open-Access-Publikationsfonds / Förderzeitraum 2022 |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | CC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International |