# The Effect of Land Cover on the Nectar Collection by Honeybee Colonies in Urban and Rural Areas
## 1 Introduction  
One of the key environmental factors influencing honeybee productivity is vegetation cover, particularly that provided by bee plants. This is because it determines the availability and quality of the forage base. Honeybees undertake foraging flights to collect nectar, honeybee, pollen, propolisis, and water. [PERSON] [1] demonstrated that bees typically forage within a radius of 2-3 km, although under favourable conditions, this range can exceed 3 km and reach up to 6 km in exceptional cases. Analyses of waggle dance behaviour have revealed that bees adjust their foraging distance based on nectar quality, preferring more calorific sources when flying over longer distances [2]. Other studies have indicated foraging distances of approximately 3 km [3], up to 5 km [4], and even 13.5 km, as calculated by [PERSON] [5]. Mathematical models determining the optimal foraging distance indicate that honeybees select routes with the lowest energetic cost, which often translates to a preference for foraging sites located 500 m to 3 km away while avoiding longer flightswhen closer sources are available [6]. The most efficient foraging distances are typically up to 2 km [7; 8]. The quantity of forage available to honeybees can be recorded using standard hive scales at daily intervals. However, the advent of smart devices, such as automated hive weighing systems, has enabled continuous monitoring of hive mass, facilitating real-time tracking of honey production and the influence of environmental and weather conditions on bee activity [9; 10; 11]. The analysis of daily fluctuations in hive weight facilitates the determination of the optimal time for honey harvesting and supports beekeeping management decisions [12]. Furthermore, the integration of contemporary artificial intelligence algorithms facilitates the prediction of hive weight fluctuations, thereby augmenting the automation of apiary management [13]. The utilisation of automated hive weighing systems has facilitated the evaluation of landscape influences on bee productivity and the optimisation of honey harvesting operations [14]. The question of the number of measurement points within an apiary was addressed by [PERSON] et al. [15], who demonstrated that a single hive scale is sufficient to provide a representative characterisation of the surrounding area and its forage availability for bees. The classification of land cover based on satellite imagery has been utilised for a considerable duration. A seminal early study was that of [PERSON] et al. [16], which introduced the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)--a tool that remains fundamental for assessing vegetation status and dynamics. Subsequent studies, including [PERSON]'s seminal work [17], further refined these methodologies, enabling increasingly precise analyses of vegetation cover change on a global scale. The ongoing advancements in satellite technologies and image analysis techniques have rendered satellite imagery a widely used tool in environmental sciences, agriculture, and natural resource management. Satellite imagery supported by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has been demonstrated to assess forage availability for honeybees [18]. The identification of bee-attractive vegetation using multispectral UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle imagery) was demonstrated by [PERSON] et al. [19], who employed drones to detect and classify plants based on their spectral signatures. The continuous advancements in these techniques and the development of new algorithms have made it possible to identify vegetation not only from satellite imagery but also from data acquired via aircraft and drones [20; 21]. Urban environments have been found to offer richer floral resources for _Apis mellifera_ than suburban or agricultural areas [22]. This phenomenon may be attributed to the greater diversity of flowering plants observed in urban areas [23; 24]. However, findings by [PERSON] et al. [25] challenge this view, suggesting that rural environments may provide better forage availability for honeybees.