**3.2 Apidological aspects**

The intensification of apple cultivation, even in the Val di Non, has made the survival of local not managed pollinators difficult due to the drastic reduction of the flora capable of supplying pollen and nectar, for the reduction of nesting and overwintering sites for some bees and even more for the use of agrochemicals. The presence of not managed Apoidea is generally very scarce in intensively cultivated areas. Stable populations of Apoidea and other wild pollinators are present only in areas adjacent to meadows, pastures, and forests [38]. However, these populations provide a limited contribution because they have normally reduced mobility, not exceeding 80–100 m of home range. Since the cultivation of the apple tree in Val di Non follows linearly the path of the Noce river forming on the two sides of the river strips of variable width often fragmented by areas of natural vegetation, the presence of not managed pollinators in apple orchards is closely related to their ability to reach them from adjacent areas that depends on the width of these strips. The immediate implication of the peculiar apple orchard cultivation configuration in Val di Non, in relation to the management of the commercial pollination service, is that the stocking density to be applied is not uniform but varies according to the need for integration of "natural" pollination. The choice of stocking density to be applied in order to optimize the pollination of the apple orchards must carefully consider the level of robustness of the honey bee colonies. In fact, the pollination potential of the honey bee colonies depends both on the number of foraging bees as well as on their health status. Each bee is able to make 3–10 daily flights, during which it can visit up to 3000 flowers [39]. Since the health status is difficult to estimate quickly and economically, the pollination contract is limited to prescribing, if provided, the minimum strength (population) of the colonies quantified on the basis of the number of "inhabited" frames/combs.

At the beginning of the spring season, i.e., at the end of the wintering period, honey bee colonies have a poor robustness, and beekeepers must reinforce them with artificial preventive nutrition or enter the market to buy colonies or brood combs. Among the apidological aspects submitted to beekeepers in the questionnaire, the following are the most relevant:

a.If they proceed to balance the colonies of honey bees before the pollination of the apple orchards.

**41**

*Commercial Pollination of Apple Orchards: Val di Non Case Study*

when they are used for pollination of crops.

b.What is the percentage of losses of bee colonies found in the winter rest period

c.What is the percentage of losses of bee colonies found in the summer period 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, classifying it as follows: less than 5%, between 5 and

d.If they consider that the concentration of bee colonies in the area to be pollinated facilitates the spread of diseases and parasites among bees.

e.If the use of commercial hybrids (i.e., the so-called Buckfast bees) constitutes an opportunity. Commercial hybrids offer opportunities for their great vigor, for the production of abundant broods, and for the consequent formation of populous honey bee colonies, but they carry with them the risk of not reaching the robustness of the colonies themselves at the beginning of the productive season. Commercial hybrids, strongly selected for the production of honey, find hard to develop their colonies in the early stages of the production season

The responding beekeepers manage on average 93.3 honey bee colonies. Thirty

With regard to the economic aspects (see **Table 1**, Section 1), a clear majority percentage (95.2%) of the responding beekeepers declares that they plan the migration itinerary ex ante. The percentage reaches 100% for the beekeeper with over 80 honey colonies. This result supports the basic assumption of the model of the migratory beekeeper on the planning of the movement sequence at the beginning of

Most beekeepers (61.9%) believe that the strength of the honey bee colony should affect highly the pollination fee paid for pollination of the apple tree (see **Table 1**, Section 2). This percentage is low compared to the importance attributed to balancing the honey bee colonies; it could be distorted due to the convenience of beekeepers with less robust honey bee colonies to declare the parameter irrelevant. The distance traveled by beekeepers takes into account not only the movements of bee colonies but also the visits to apiaries located at various sites during the season. Responding beekeepers traveled (see **Table 1**, Section 3) an average of 6650 km during 2018 (both for pollination services and honey production). The distance traveled by beekeepers with less than 80 honey bee colonies is much lower, being on average 3538 km. Beekeeper with more than 80 colonies traveled an average of 13,592 km during 2018. The greater distance traveled by beekeepers belonging to the latter size class finds an easy explanation in their origin from outside the region and in their farm size. The reduced number of kilometers traveled by beekeepers with

beekeepers have less than 80 honey bee colonies with an average of 27.9. The remaining 13 beekeepers with more than 80 honey bee colonies have an average of 244.2. All beekeepers with less than 80 honey bee colonies have their headquarters in the local area, specifically in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, while the remaining 13 come from other Italian regions. It follows that the size classes and the classes of origin coincide. Overall, the responding beekeepers have in total 4011 honey bee colonies; those from outside the region have only 3175 colonies that are almost 80% of the total number. The "local" beekeepers therefore prevail numerically over the others, but they are minority in terms of colonies of honey bees

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90429*

2017/2018 and 2018/2019.

10%, and over 10%.

**4. Results**

possessed.

the year.

