Using Geographical Information System (GIS) and Satellite Remote Sensing for Understanding the Impacts of Land Cover on Apiculture over Time

Abstract

The development of apiculture is strongly related to the suitable land cover, mainly the availability of honey plants. The land cover is not stable over time due to the human activities. The honey yield per honey bee colony has been reduced greatly in El-Behera Governorate, Egypt over time. The decline in the cultivated areas is considered to be the main cause for the low honey yield. In this research, the land cover changes were investigated during a long period of time from 1970s till 2000s to understand the possible roles of the land cover changes on apiculture and low honey yield. The GIS and Landsat satellite images in combination with Google Earth historical images were used for land cover change analysis. The obtained results showed a relative increase in the cultivated areas over time with approximately the presence of the same plant types. Therefore, the low honey production can not be explained by the decline in the cultivated areas.