Lowering forest habitat does not reduce forage availability to the eastern honey bees in summer and fall

The eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) is an important managed pollinator adapted to forest landscapes in China and other Asian countries adjacent to China. Eastern honey bee is thought to be threatened by forage deficiency due to deforestation; however, limited research is available to support this assumption. Our study will determine whether varying subtropical forests, the major shelter of eastern honey bees in China, affects bee forage and health. We placed hives at locations with high (HFC), medium (MFC), or low forest cover (control) and monitored the forage collection and bee population in the summer and fall. We found that available forage and bee population size (including larvae, capped pupae, and adult bees) were not significantly different among control, MFC, and HFC. Forage and larvae and pupae amount under control and MFC tended to be more abundant and larger compared with HFC. Though forage was not reduced by low forest cover, eastern honey bees at the control locations died potentially due to disease transmission and pesticide use in adjacent crops as well as vandalism. This study suggested the medium forest cover may be a compromise strategy to insure the forage availability and buffer colonies from environmental stress. Further study needs to confirm the application of this strategy.