Influence of urbanization on the survival and productivity of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in an agricultural region

9 June 2012

Douglas Sponsler

The Ohio State University

Thorne Hall

1680 Madison Ave

Wooster, OH 44691

215/475-7203

e-mail: sponsler.18@osu.edu

Influence of urbanization on the survival and productivity of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in an agricultural region

DOUGLAS B. SPONSLER and REED M. JOHNSON, The Ohio State University 

Columbus, OH 43210, USA

KEY WORDS: urbanization, urban beekeeping, landscape, citizen science, survey

ABSTRACT

Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the popularity and publicity of urban beekeeping. Anecdotal reports indicate high rates of survival and productivity for urban colonies, but this phenomenon remains largely unstudied. In the spring and summer of 2012, we conducted surveys of beekeepers in the state of Ohio to detect geographical patterns of hive success in relation to landscape urbanization. To minimize the influence of initial colony condition and beekeeper proficiency, we limited our survey to hives started from package bees in spring 2012. An initial spring survey was used to collect location data for each participating hive and beekeeping background data for each participating beekeeper. The landscape of each hive was defined as the area circumscribed by a three kilometer radius representing the practical foraging range of a honey bee colony. We then quantified the degree of urbanization of each landscape using the metrics of human population density and percent cover of impervious surface. In late summer, we conducted a second survey to measure the success of each hive in terms of survival (alive or dead), total productivity (honey + wax produced), and late summer population estimate (number of frames covered with bees). Hive success was then analyzed as a function of landscape urbanization.