Sustainable Apiculture: the impact of hive density on honeybee productivity and native biodiversity

蜜蜂已经被引入除南极洲以外的每一块大陆的生态系统，用于授粉和蜂蜜生产。然而，众所周知，蜜蜂有可能与当地的野生传粉者争夺食物。例如，据计算，一个蜂房使用的花蜜和花粉可以养活38,400只大黄蜂。鉴于野生传粉者进行大部分作物授粉，如果农业要可持续发展，以与野生传粉者的保护和利用相适应的方式管理养蜂业是相当重要的。农田和酸性土壤上的自然栖息地(例如用于生产绵羊和牛肉的沼泽地和石南地)为英国的养蜂人提供了重要的蜜蜂饲料，在英国，石楠蜂蜜是一种优质产品。它们还支持大量的野生传粉者和高度多样性。然而，这些栖息地对养蜂的承载能力在很大程度上仍不清楚。因此，迫切需要更好地了解蜜蜂和本地传粉者之间的相互作用，以便为可持续的养蜂做法提供信息，并将对当地生物多样性的任何不利影响降至最低。该项目首先将重点放在英国的养蜂业上，但它将产生可持续养蜂业的知识和创新，然后将在南非应用。该项目的数据和结论将直接提供给南非当地合作组织向土地所有者提供的养蜂场管理建议。该项目有四个目标：1)评估英国沼泽地在整个觅食季节对蜜蜂生产的承载能力；2)测试蜜蜂和本地传粉者是否在争夺资源；3)应用在英国产生的知识，为南非可持续的蜂蜜生产提供证据基础；4)构建社会生态网络，以确定养蜂人对生物多样性的影响。成功的申请者将通过与布里斯托尔大学和卡迪夫大学的多学科团队合作，以及与南非的合作者合作，从多样化的培训中受益。候选人将在两国进行实地考察，与当地养蜂人密切合作，通过与利益相关者的面谈，收集有关授粉网络、开花物候和社会生态网络的实地数据，并进行实地试验。

The honeybee has been introduced to ecosystems on every continent except Antarctica for pollination and honey production. It's well known however that honeybees have the potential to compete with native wild pollinators for food. For example, it has been calculated that the nectar and pollen used by a single apiary could support 38,400 bumblebees. Given that wild pollinators carry out the bulk of crop pollination, managing apiculture in a manner compatible with the conservation and utilization of wild pollinators is of considerable importance if agriculture is to be sustainable. Farmland and natural habitats on acid soils (e.g. moorlands and heathland, used for sheep and beef production) provide important honeybee forage for beekeepers in the UK where Heather Honey is a premium product. They also support a large abundance and a high diversity of wild pollinators. However, the carrying capacity of these habitats for beekeeping remains largely unknown. There is therefore an urgent need to better understand the interactions between honeybees and the native pollinators to inform sustainable beekeeping practices and to minimise any adverse impacts on local biodiversity. This studentship will start by focusing on UK apiculture, but it will generate knowledge and innovation in sustainable apiculture which will then be applied in South Africa. The data and conclusions of this project will feed directly into apiary management recommendations provided to landowners by a local partner organisation in South Africa. This studentship has four objectives: 1) to evaluate the carrying capacity of UK moorland for honeybee production over the whole foraging season; 2) to test whether honeybees and native pollinators are competing for resources; 3) to apply the knowledge generated in the UK to provide the evidence base for sustainable honey production in South Africa; and 4) to construct socio-ecological networks to determine the impact of beekeepers on biodiversity. The successful applicant will benefit from a diverse training through working with a multi-disciplinary team based at the University of Bristol and at Cardiff University, and working with collaborators in South Africa. The candidate will carry outfieldwork in both countries working closely with local beekeepers using stakeholder interviews, collecting field data on pollination networks, flowering phenology and socio-ecological networks, and running field experiment.