A web-based application for beekeepers to visualise patterns of growth in floral resources using MODIS data

Abstract

The honey bee industry is of immense importance to global agriculture. In many countries beekeepers are migratory and move their hives between flowering events. Predicting such flowering events is particularly difficult in Australia due to the irregular flowering of eucalypts. We have developed a web-based application for Victorian beekeepers to visualise patterns of growth in floral resources using MODIS and other data, and thus make remote predictions about whether flowering will occur at their apiary sites. We demonstrate the use of this application through comparing ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa) growth patterns with flowering and honey production records. While the scientific community ..