In Africa there is a scarcity of information on how plant species that can provide forage for honey bees vary across differentially structured landscapes, and what are the implications of such variabilities on colony integrity. This research presents new insights into the diversity and richness of pollen collected by Apis mellifera scutellata, a subspecies of the Western honey bee native to sub-Saharan Africa, at six study sites of different degradation levels within a semi-arid landscape in Kenya. Ten colonies were established at each site and land cover characteristics were extracted using novel remote sensing methods. The sites differed by the proportions of natural vegetation, cropland, grassland and hedges within each site. Bee bread was collected five times, with three colonies in each of the six sites repeatedly sampled during the period from May 2017 to November 2018. Pollen identification and protein analysis within the study sites were thereafter conducted to establish the linkage between landscape degradation levels and abundance and diversity of pollen. Out of 124 plant species identified, Terminalia spp., Cleome spp. and Acacia spp. were identified as the most abundant species. Moreover, species richness and diversity were highest in the two sites located in moderately degraded landscapes. Pollen protein content showed statistically significant differences across season rather than geographical location. This study demonstrated that landscape degradation negatively affected the diversity and richness of pollen collected by honey bees. Consequently, this helps our understanding of native honey bees’ forage resource usage and plant species preferences in landscapes with varying degrees of degradation.

在非洲，关于为蜜蜂提供饲料的植物物种如何在不同结构的景观中变化以及这种变化对蜂群完整性的影响的信息很少。这项研究为Apis mellifera scutellata收集的花粉的多样性和丰富度提供了新的见解，一种原产于撒哈拉以南非洲的西方蜜蜂的亚种，在肯尼亚半干旱地区的六个不同退化水平的研究地点。在每个地点建立十个殖民地，并使用新的遥感方法提取土地覆盖特征。这些站点因每个站点内的自然植被、农田、草地和树篱的比例而异。在 2017 年 5 月至 2018 年 11 月期间，蜜蜂面包被收集五次，在六个地点中的每个地点重复采样三个菌落。此后在研究地点内进行花粉鉴定和蛋白质分析，以建立景观退化水平与丰度之间的联系和花粉的多样性。出124种植物鉴定的榄仁属，白花菜属 和金合欢属。被确定为最丰富的物种。此外，位于中度退化景观的两个地点的物种丰富度和多样性最高。花粉蛋白含量在不同季节而不是地理位置之间显示出统计学上的显着差异。这项研究表明，景观退化对蜜蜂收集的花粉的多样性和丰富度产生了负面影响。因此，这有助于我们了解具有不同退化程度的景观中本地蜜蜂的饲料资源使用和植物物种偏好。