Document Type : Articles
Authors
- Karrar Akram Al Tameemi 1
- Wurood Jabbar Idan 1
- Dunya Mohi Mohsin 2
- Dhurgham Sabeeh Altai 1
- Nóra Mendler-Drienyovszki 3
1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Misan, Iraq
2 Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Misan, Iraq
3 Research Institute of Nyíregyháza IAREF University of Debrecen
Abstract
Over the past decade, Iraqi beekeepers have begun cultivating canola (Brassica napus L.) to support their bees with natural winter pasture. They applied consecutive planting dates ensuring successive and extended flowering period for their bees. The main aim of this study was to assess the impact of environmental factors like temperature and humidity on nectar production, including nectar quantity, sugar concentration, flowering dates, number of flowers, and flowering duration. In a field experiment four sowing dates were applied in 2022(15th of Sept., 1st of Oct., 15th of Oct. and 1st of Nov.). The study found that high temperatures negatively impacted the quantity of nectar while strong relationship was detected between relative humidity and the increase in the produced nectar and the decrease in sugar concentration. T1 resulted the longest flowering period (120 days), followed by T2 (111 days) and T3 (85 days). T1 and T2 also produced more flowers per plant (477 and 358, respectively) compared to T3 (169 flowers). T3 plants had the longest period of vegetative growth (61 days) but the lowest average plant height (165 cm). T1 and T2 had shorter vegetative growth periods (48 and 44 days, respectively) but achieved higher plant heights (223 and 204 cm). The study concludes that consecutive sowing dates are not beneficial for beekeepers in Iraq, and mid-September being the optimal sowing date for an extended flowering period and increased flower production. This is the first ever research of rapeseed as a honey plant in Iraq.
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