GIS-based strategic approach for land suitability analysis to beekeeping of Apis cerana and A. mellifera in China

Authors

  • Maryam Riasat Department of Zoology, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan. , College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China.
  • Zubda Ashfaq Department of Zoology, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
  • Rabia Yousaf Department of Zoology, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
  • Tuba Zafar Department of Zoology, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
  • Muhammad Suleman Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
  • Nawaz Haider Bashir College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China.
  • Saba Malik State Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Green Resource Recycling, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China.
  • Huanhuan Chen College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China.
  • Muhammad Naeem College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China. , Department of Zoology, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55627/pbulletin.004.01.1339

Abstract

The importance of honeybees in honey production and environmental services is undeniable. Beekeeping plays a vital role in supporting these services. To improve honeybee performance and address the declining populations of Apis cerana and A. mellifera, it is essential to conduct land suitability analyses for beekeeping in China, the world’s largest beekeeping country. Our strategic fuzzy logic approach integrated within a GIS (Geographical Information Systems) framework provides guidance on reducing colony loss risks and ultimately enhancing honey production by identifying the most suitable lands for beekeepers. In this study, the most influential environmental and ecological factors affecting beekeeping were incorporated to develop land suitability maps. Our approach revealed that 37% and 32% of China’s land area is highly suitable for A. cerana and A. mellifera, respectively. Approximately 24% of the area was found to be commonly suitable for both species. Most of the highly suitable areas for A. mellifera were concentrated in specific parts of southern, central, and eastern China. In contrast, A. cerana suitability was widespread across China, excluding the Tibetan Plateau. The reliability of this approach was further confirmed through validation using actual beekeeping locality data. Overall, our findings indicate that while apicultural practices can be expanded across a large portion of China, the most favorable conditions are limited to specific regions. Identifying these optimal zones can help enhance colony productivity and reduce the risk of colony losses.

References

Abou-Shaara, H. 2013. Identifying possible regions for using modified beehives in Saudi Arabia using a geographical information system (GIS). Journal of Agricultural … 9:1937–1945.

Abou-shaara, H. F. 2015. Suitability of Current and Future Conditions to Apiculture in Egypt using Geographical Information System 6:12–22.

Abou-Shaara, H. F., A. A. Al-Ghamdi, and A. A. Mohamed. 2013. A suitability map for keeping honey bees under harsh environmental conditions using geographical information system. World Applied Sciences Journal 22:1099–1105.

Becher, M. ., O. J. L., T. Pernille, K. P. J., G. Volker, and S. Ingolf. 2013. REVIEW: Towards a systems approach for understanding honeybee decline: a stocktaking and synthesis of existing models. Journal of Applied Ecology 50:868–880.

Benelli, G., S. Benvenuti, N. Desneux, and A. Canale. 2014. Cephalaria transsylvanica-Based Flower Strips as Potential Food Source for Bees during Dry Periods in European Mediterranean Basin Countries. PLOS ONE 9:e93153.

Campolo, O., A. Malacrinò, F. Laudani, V. Maione, L. Zappalà, and V. Palmeri. 2014. Population Dynamics and Temperature-Dependent Development of Chrysomphalus aonidum (L.) to Aid Sustainable Pest Management Decisions. Neotropical Entomology 43:453–464.

Canale, M., S. Casale-Brunet, E. Bezati, M. Mattavelli, and J. W. Janneck. 2014. Dataflow programs analysis and optimization using model predictive control techniques: An example of bounded buffer scheduling. Pages 1–62014 IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems (SiPS).

Carver, S. J. 1991. Integrating multi-criteria evaluation with geographical information systems. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems 5:321–339.

Chen, C., Z. Liu, Y. Luo, Z. Xu, S. Wang, X. Zhang, R. Dai, J. Gao, X. Chen, H. Guo, H. Wang, J. Tang, and W. Shi. 2017. Managed honeybee colony losses of the Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana) in China (2011–2014). Apidologie 48:692–702.

Chen, Y., K. Shahbaz, and P. Zahra. 2010. To retire or expand? A fuzzy GIS‐based spatial multi‐criteria evaluation framework for irrigated agriculture. Irrigation and Drainage 59:174–188.

Cox-Foster, D. L., S. Conlan, E. C. Holmes, G. Palacios, J. D. Evans, N. A. Moran, P.-L. Quan, T. Briese, M. Hornig, D. M. Geiser, V. Martinson, D. vanEngelsdorp, A. L. Kalkstein, A. Drysdale, J. Hui, J. Zhai, L. Cui, S. K. Hutchison, J. F. Simons, M. Egholm, J. S. Pettis, and W. I. Lipkin. 2007. A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder. Science 318:283 LP-287.

Decourtye, A., E. Mader, and N. Desneux. 2010. Landscape enhancement of floral resources for honey bees in agro-ecosystems. Apidologie 41:264–277.

Domingo-Santos, J. M., R. F. de Villarán, Í. Rapp-Arrarás, and E. C.-P. de Provens. 2011. The visual exposure in forest and rural landscapes: An algorithm and a GIS tool. Landscape and Urban Planning 101:52–58.

Gallai, N., J.-M. Salles, J. Settele, and B. E. Vaissière. 2009. Economic valuation of the vulnerability of world agriculture confronted with pollinator decline. Ecological Economics 68:810–821.

Jeff, O., W. Rachael, and T. Sam. 2011. How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals? Oikos 120:321–326.

Jiang, H., and J. R. Eastman. 2000. Application of fuzzy measures in multi-criteria evaluation in GIS. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 14:173–184.

Joerin, F., M. Thériault, and A. Musy. 2001. Using GIS and outranking multicriteria analysis for land-use suitability assessment. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 15:153–174.

Kahraman, C., U. Cebeci, and Z. Ulukan. 2003. Multi‐criteria supplier selection using fuzzy AHP. Logistics Information Management 16:382–394.

Klein, A.-M., B. E. Vaissière, J. H. Cane, I. Steffan-Dewenter, S. A. Cunningham, C. Kremen, and T. Tscharntke. 2007. Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274:303 LP-313.

Liu, Z., C. Chen, Q. Niu, W. Qi, C. Yuan, S. Su, S. Liu, Y. Zhang, X. Zhang, T. Ji, R. Dai, Z. Zhang, S. Wang, F. Gao, H. Guo, L. Lv, G. Ding, and W. Shi. 2016. Survey results of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony losses in China (2010–2013). Journal of Apicultural Research 55:29–37.

Moritz, R. F. A., J. de Miranda, I. Fries, Y. Le Conte, P. Neumann, and R. J. Paxton. 2010. Research strategies to improve honeybee health in Europe. Apidologie 41:227–242.

Rollin, O., G. Benelli, S. Benvenuti, A. Decourtye, S. D. Wratten, A. Canale, and N. Desneux. 2016. Weed-insect pollinator networks as bio-indicators of ecological sustainability in agriculture. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 36:8.

Saremi, H., L. Kumar, F. Sarmadian, A. Heidari, and F. Shabani. 2011. GIS based evaluation of land suitability: A case study for major crops in Zanjan University region. Journal of Food Agriculture & Environment 9:741–744.

Tan, K., S. Yang, Z.-W. Wang, S. E. Radloff, and B. P. Oldroyd. 2012. Differences in foraging and broodnest temperature in the honey bees Apis cerana and A. mellifera . Apidologie 43:618–623.

Ullah, K. M., and A. Mansourian. 2016. Evaluation of Land Suitability for Urban Land-Use Planning: Case Study Dhaka City. Transactions in GIS 20:20–37.

vanEngelsdorp, D., and M. D. Meixner. 2010. A historical review of managed honey bee populations in Europe and the United States and the factors that may affect them. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 103:S80–S95.

Viuda-Martos, M., Y. Ruiz-Navajas, J. Fernandez-Lopez, and J. A. Perez-Alvarez. 2008. Functional properties of honey, propolis, and royal jelly. Journal of food science 73:R117-24.

Wratten, S. D., M. Gillespie, A. Decourtye, E. Mader, and N. Desneux. 2012. Pollinator habitat enhancement: Benefits to other ecosystem services. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 159:112–122.

Zhou, J., Z. Suo, P. Zhao, N. Cheng, H. Gao, J. Zhao, and W. Cao. 2013. Jujube honey from china: Physicochemical characteristics and mineral contents. Journal of Food Science 78:387–394.

Zoccali, P., A. Malacrin??, O. Campolo, F. Laudani, G. M. Algeri, G. Giunti, C. P. Strano, G. Benelli, and V. Palmeri. 2016. A novel GIS-based approach to assess beekeeping suitability of Mediterranean lands. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 24:1045–1050.

Downloads

Published

2025-06-30

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2025): Plant Bulletin

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Maryam Riasat, Zubda Ashfaq, Rabia Yousaf, Tuba Zafar, Muhammad Suleman, Nawaz Haider Bashir, Saba Malik, Huanhuan Chen, Muhammad Naeem

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

GIS-based strategic approach for land suitability analysis to beekeeping of Apis cerana and A. mellifera in China. (2025). Plant Bulletin, 4(1), 141-148. https://doi.org/10.55627/pbulletin.004.01.1339