TY - JOUR
T1 - Decline in Honeybees and Its Consequences for Beekeepers and Crop Pollination in Western Nepal
AU - Kortsch, Susanne
AU - Timberlake, Thomas P.
AU - Cirtwill, Alyssa R.
AU - Sapkota, Sujan
AU - Rokoya, Manish
AU - Devkota, Kedar
AU - Roslin, Tomas
AU - Memmott, Jane
AU - Saville, Naomi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/4/16
Y1 - 2024/4/16
N2 - In understudied regions of the world, beekeeper records can provide valuable insights into changes in pollinator population trends. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 116 beekeepers in a mountainous area of Western Nepal, where the native honeybee Apis cerana cerana is kept as a managed bee. We complemented the survey with field data on insect–crop visitation, a household income survey, and an interview with a local lead beekeeper. In total, 76% of beekeepers reported declines in honeybees, while 86% and 78% reported declines in honey yield and number of beehives, respectively. Honey yield per hive fell by 50% between 2012 and 2022, whilst the number of occupied hives decreased by 44%. Beekeepers ranked climate change and declining flower abundance as the most important drivers of the decline. This raises concern for the future food and economic security of this region, where honey sales contribute to 16% of total household income, and where Apis cerana cerana plays a major role in crop pollination, contributing more than 50% of all flower visits to apple, cucumber, and pumpkin. To mitigate further declines, we promote native habitat and wildflower preservation, and using well-insulated log hives to buffer bees against the increasingly extreme temperature fluctuations.
AB - In understudied regions of the world, beekeeper records can provide valuable insights into changes in pollinator population trends. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 116 beekeepers in a mountainous area of Western Nepal, where the native honeybee Apis cerana cerana is kept as a managed bee. We complemented the survey with field data on insect–crop visitation, a household income survey, and an interview with a local lead beekeeper. In total, 76% of beekeepers reported declines in honeybees, while 86% and 78% reported declines in honey yield and number of beehives, respectively. Honey yield per hive fell by 50% between 2012 and 2022, whilst the number of occupied hives decreased by 44%. Beekeepers ranked climate change and declining flower abundance as the most important drivers of the decline. This raises concern for the future food and economic security of this region, where honey sales contribute to 16% of total household income, and where Apis cerana cerana plays a major role in crop pollination, contributing more than 50% of all flower visits to apple, cucumber, and pumpkin. To mitigate further declines, we promote native habitat and wildflower preservation, and using well-insulated log hives to buffer bees against the increasingly extreme temperature fluctuations.
KW - Apis cerana cerana
KW - beekeeping
KW - climate change
KW - crop production
KW - insect decline
KW - insect pollination
KW - pollinator decline
KW - smallholder farming
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85191761166&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/insects15040281
DO - 10.3390/insects15040281
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
C2 - 38667412
AN - SCOPUS:85191761166
SN - 2075-4450
VL - 15
SP - 1
EP - 35
JO - Insects
JF - Insects
IS - 4
M1 - 281
ER -