Changes in Temperature and Humidity and their Effect on Activities of Apis mellifera L Workers Visiting some Wild flowers in the Aljabal Al-Akhder

Abstract

This study was conducted to know the effect of temperature and humidity factors on the activity of foraging honey bee workers on the flowers of some wild plants in the Aljabal Alakhder region. The activity was calculated on the flowers of Sinapis alba, Pelargonium radula, Stachys tournefortii and Malva parviflora during five days of the flowering period by monitoring the visiting of bees workers to the flowers during the 15 minutes. From eleven in the morning until thirteen in the afternoon in an area of ​​one meter for each plant, the temperatures and humidity were recorded near the study plants, and the analysis of the results showed a strong correlation between temperature (°C) and relative humidity % and the number of visitors to plant flowers. The temperature had a direct effect on the number of visitors, the higher the temperature, the higher the number of visitors, and the humidity had an opposite effect, the lower the average relative humidity, the higher the number of visitors, and vice versa in both cases. We conclude from the study the main role of climate factors, whether temperature or humidity, in determining the times of honey bee visits to different plants.