Impacts of prescribed burning on the honeybee and pollination industries
Prescribed burns are an integral component of Australia’s fire mitigation strategy. Although these burns are intended to protect people, property and biodiversity, they may have unintended consequences on flower-visiting insects such as honeybees. While prescribed burns are necessary, timing to reduce the impacts on the honeybee and pollination industry is not considered. This project aims to better understand the impact of prescribed burns on honeybees and their products (honey production and pollination services). We will examine and synthesise the existing scientific literature on the direct and indirect impacts of fire on honeybee health, pollination services, and honey production. We will also determine if and how fire may impact the availability and quality of nectar and pollen from flowers. From these studies we will create a living evidence database and report detailing the state-of-the-art knowledge of fire impacts on honeybees, and we will determine which topics require more study. We will perform case studies to generate the data required to determine the potential impact of prescribed burns on the beekeeping industry. We will also create a series of recommendations to help land managers, beekeepers and other stakeholders make science-based decisions about the intensity and frequency of planned fires.
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