Impact of Climate Change on Honeybees and Crop Production

Climate change is the major alarming issue which human population is facing right now. Changing weather patterns have threatened agriculture and crop production adversely. Climate change also contributes a good share towards the declining population of honeybees; the major pollinating agent of the food crops. Around 80% flowering plants are pollinated by 2% of honey bees. They are extremely vulnerable to weather and climate changes. Unfortunately, bee population is declining as much as 30% each year. The changing climatic pattern had resulted in the changing flowering pattern, nectar, pollen availability, blooming period and crop physiology. Moreover, with this changing pattern, the availability of flowers for pollination, pollen and nectar availability to the honeybees reduces and bees become unable to pollinate flowers properly as well as could not be able to store nectars for their use during harsh winter months. Changing in the blooming period of the flowers also affects the foraging activity of honey bees. Seasonal changes lead to disturbances in honeybee population and they maintain it by adopting various natural phenomenon like foraging, swarming, absconding etc. Disturbances in the seasonal cycle and unexpected variations in temperature adversely affects the hive temperature, colony population, honey bee health as well as quality of pollen and honey production. All these factors combinedly leads to colony collapse disorder in honeybees, which ultimately kills the total honey bee colony present in an area. Therefore, this chapter gives an in detailed explanation about the consequences of changing climate on honey bee population with reference to change in crop physiology, phenology and the overall changes in crop production.