Resource Potential of Melliferous Plants of the Steppe Don Region

Melliferous lands comprise the categories of forest fund lands, where melliferous plants and plants that provide high pollen yield grow. Bees pollinating entomophilous plants are 6-10 times more beneficial to forest lands compared to the favours from productive honey flows. The research objectives included identifying the features of the ecological and biological characteristics of melliferous plants of the Fabacea family, specifying the onset, duration and intensity of flowering, determining the sugar content in the nectar of one flower and honey pro-ductivity in the steppe Don region. Registration plots were laid out by the route method for the assessment of melliferous resources and determination of the resource potential of forest lands. Necessary observations, registration work, mathematical and statistical data processing were carried out according to the generally accepted methods. The territory of the steppe Don region, where the forest fund lands of the Rostov region are located, has favorable weather conditions and a rich forage base for bees. The honey potential of the studied resources is a dynamic indi-cator and is of interest both for forest beekeeping and for scientific research. We used the sums of effective temperatures to determine the flowering sequence and characteristics of melliferous plants. The dwarf Russian almond blossoms first among arboreal melliferous plants of the le-gume family, while the Japanese pagoda tree blossoms last in the middle of the summer honey flow period. Black locust forest stands (497 kg/ha), lands dominated by Japanese pagoda tree (484 kg/ha) and honey locust (245 kg/ha) have the highest honey productivity. The research results showed that the black locust plantations with a bioresource potential of 7111.29 ton in the eastern and central areas of the region are significant for honey flow on the forest fund lands. Forest lands with predominance of spring melliferous plants of boxthorn and dwarf Russian al-mond on non-forest lands of the forest fund provide a supporting honey flow with a bioresource potential of 2749.168 ton. The studies that were carried out are of practical importance and will allow determining the resource potential of forest lands for honey flow more accurately in the future. In case of a high level of forestry and beekeeping practices, even under adverse weather conditions during nectar harvesting, it will be possible to obtain a productive honey flow, while ensuring timely and effective pollination of forest plants.