farmers stand to improve their own crop yields and quality to remain competitive in
the agricultural economy.
In order to sustain bee populations, support honey bee health, and assist beekeeping activities, diverse native and nonnative, flower-rich herbaceous plants should be
maintained in fallow areas, field margins, and buffer strips. Landscapes with ample
flowers containing good-quality pollen and nectars are vital for enriching pollinator
health. This in turn also helps nearby crop fields [65].
By conserving and creating diverse habitats on farmland, farmers can help
address bloom de-synchronization due to climate change or nectar and pollen
shortage due to monoculture. Providing diverse supplemental forage resources to
both wild bees and managed honey bees would both increase survival rates and
improve the bees’ capability to pollinate.
5.2.1 Cultivated Arable Farmland
Arable farmland is land that can be cultivated for agricultural use. Cover crops are
annual or perennial plants temporarily sown to protect noncultivated land from
erosion, prevent weed spread, disrupt crop pest life cycles by replacing pest host
plants, and improve soil quality by adding nitrogen and organic matter to the soil, or
reducing nitrogen runoff in water [102].
Annual Cropping Systems
In annual cropping systems, a single annual crop rotation has resulted in mostly
monocultures of very low plant diversity across large expanses of land. To supplement honey bee diets and help wild pollinators as well, the following conservation
activities are recommended:
11. Plant flowering plants in noncropped areas to supplement forage resources
between the bloom times of cultivated crops.
12. Maintain large strips (6–12 m in width) of native or nonnative melliferous plants
between crop fields as “bee pastures.”
13. Mitigate herbicide usage within cropping systems to support bee foraging
through the increase of flowering weeds near the crop areas.
To aid pollinators, use plants with short, rapid flowering life cycles as cover crops
in the spring before the primary crop is sown: this will provide early forage for honey
bees and other pollinators. Similarly, these plants can follow the primary crop in
rotation to provide late season forage sources. Examples of plants suitable for this
purpose are annual clovers and mustards. Using longer-lived or even perennial cover
crop plants are preferred for a cover crop rotation between two Gramineae crops
such as barley and corn [103].
36
C. Li
the agricultural economy.
In order to sustain bee populations, support honey bee health, and assist beekeeping activities, diverse native and nonnative, flower-rich herbaceous plants should be
maintained in fallow areas, field margins, and buffer strips. Landscapes with ample
flowers containing good-quality pollen and nectars are vital for enriching pollinator
health. This in turn also helps nearby crop fields [65].
By conserving and creating diverse habitats on farmland, farmers can help
address bloom de-synchronization due to climate change or nectar and pollen
shortage due to monoculture. Providing diverse supplemental forage resources to
both wild bees and managed honey bees would both increase survival rates and
improve the bees’ capability to pollinate.
5.2.1 Cultivated Arable Farmland
Arable farmland is land that can be cultivated for agricultural use. Cover crops are
annual or perennial plants temporarily sown to protect noncultivated land from
erosion, prevent weed spread, disrupt crop pest life cycles by replacing pest host
plants, and improve soil quality by adding nitrogen and organic matter to the soil, or
reducing nitrogen runoff in water [102].
Annual Cropping Systems
In annual cropping systems, a single annual crop rotation has resulted in mostly
monocultures of very low plant diversity across large expanses of land. To supplement honey bee diets and help wild pollinators as well, the following conservation
activities are recommended:
11. Plant flowering plants in noncropped areas to supplement forage resources
between the bloom times of cultivated crops.
12. Maintain large strips (6–12 m in width) of native or nonnative melliferous plants
between crop fields as “bee pastures.”
13. Mitigate herbicide usage within cropping systems to support bee foraging
through the increase of flowering weeds near the crop areas.
To aid pollinators, use plants with short, rapid flowering life cycles as cover crops
in the spring before the primary crop is sown: this will provide early forage for honey
bees and other pollinators. Similarly, these plants can follow the primary crop in
rotation to provide late season forage sources. Examples of plants suitable for this
purpose are annual clovers and mustards. Using longer-lived or even perennial cover
crop plants are preferred for a cover crop rotation between two Gramineae crops
such as barley and corn [103].
36
C. Li