A New Approach to Inform Restoration and Management Decisions for Sustainable Apiculture

Habitat loss has reduced the available resources for apiarists and is a key driver of poor colony health, colony loss, and reduced honey yields. The biggest challenge for apiarists in the future will be meeting increasing demands for pollination services, honey, and other bee products with limited resources. Targeted landscape restoration focusing on high-value or high-yielding forage could ensure adequate floral resources are available to sustain the growing industry. Tools are currently needed to evaluate the likely productivity of potential sites for restoration and inform decisions about plant selections and arrangements and hive stocking rates, movements, and placements. We propose a new approach for designing sites for apiculture, centred on a model of honey production that predicts how changes to plant and hive decisions affect the resource supply, potential for bees to collect resources, consumption of resources by the colonies, and subsequently, amount of honey that may be produced. The proposed model is discussed with reference to existing models, and data input requirements are discussed with reference to an Australian case study area. We conclude that no existing model exactly meets the requirements of our proposed approach, but components of several existing models could be combined to achieve these needs.

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The Role of Flies as Pollinators of Horticultural Crops: An Australian Case Study with Worldwide Relevance

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11060341 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 341 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

David F Cook ◽

Sasha C Voss ◽

Jonathan T D Finch ◽

Romina C Rader ◽

James M Cook ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Single Species ◽

High Potential ◽

Services Research ◽

Pollination Services ◽

Horticultural Crops ◽

Flower Visitation ◽

Australian Case

Australian horticulture relies heavily on the introduced managed honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), to pollinate crops. Given the risks associated with reliance upon a single species, it would be prudent to identify other taxa that could be managed to provide crop pollination services. We reviewed the literature relating to the distribution, efficiency and management potential of a number of flies (Diptera) known to visit pollinator-dependent crops in Australia and worldwide. Applying this information, we identified the taxa most suitable to play a greater role as managed pollinators in Australian crops. Of the taxa reviewed, flower visitation by representatives from the dipteran families Calliphoridae, Rhiniidae and Syrphidae was frequently reported in the literature. While data available are limited, there was clear evidence of pollination by these flies in a range of crops. A review of fly morphology, foraging behaviour and physiology revealed considerable potential for their development as managed pollinators, either alone or to augment honey bee services. Considering existing pollination evidence, along with the distribution, morphology, behaviour and life history traits of introduced and endemic species, 11 calliphorid, two rhiniid and seven syrphid species were identified as candidates with high potential for use in Australian managed pollination services. Research directions for the comprehensive assessment of the pollination abilities of the identified taxa to facilitate their development as a pollination service are described. This triage approach to identifying species with high potential to become significant managed pollinators at local or regional levels is clearly widely applicable to other countries and taxa.

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Adopting trust and assurance as indicators for the reassignment of responsibilities in multi-agent systems

The Knowledge Engineering Review ◽

10.1017/s0269888914000290 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 187-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Benjamin Gâteau ◽

Moussa Ouedraogo ◽

Christophe Feltus ◽

Guy Guemkam ◽

Grégoire Danoy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Distributed Systems ◽

Weather Station ◽

Multi Agent Systems ◽

New Approach ◽

Agent Systems ◽

Trust Level ◽

Proposed Model ◽

Selection Parameter ◽

Multi Agent

AbstractMulti-agent systems have been widely used in the literature, including for the monitoring of distributed systems. However, one of the unresolved issues in this technology remains in the reassignment of the responsibilities of monitoring agents when some of them become unable to meet their obligations. This paper proposes a new approach for solving this problem based on (a) the gathering of evidence on whether the agent can or cannot fulfil the tasks it has been assigned and (b) the reassignment of the task to alternative agents using their trust level as a selection parameter. A weather station case study is proposed as an instantiation of the proposed model.

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A new approach for the load calculation of the most loaded rolling element for the rolling bearing with internal radial clearance - The case study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-17922/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Radoslav Tomović

Keyword(s):

Roller Bearing ◽

Rolling Bearing ◽

Radial Clearance ◽

Practical Application ◽

New Approach ◽

Load Factors ◽

Proposed Model ◽

Rolling Element ◽

Load Calculation

Abstract In this paper is presented a case study which has the goal to show the benefits of the application of a new approach for the calculation of load of the most loaded rolling element at the rolling bearing with the internal radial clearance. The calculation is based on the so-called load factors. By multiplication load factors with the value of the external radial load, the load which is transferred by the most loaded rolling element of the bearing is obtained. The case study is made for two types of bearings, the ball, and roller bearing. Obtained results were compared with the results obtained based on the calculation using some of the most commonly used methods so far. The analysis showed greater precision of the considered model with the same or much simpler application. For this reason, the proposed model is considered very suitable for practical application.

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MAKING FORMWORK CONSTRUCTION LEAN

Journal of Civil Engineering and Management ◽

10.3846/13923730.2014.890655 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 444-458 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Chien-Ho Ko ◽

Jiun-De Kuo

Keyword(s):

Lean Manufacturing ◽

Control Culture ◽

Site Quality ◽

New Approach ◽

Proposed Model ◽

Key Factor ◽

Kanban System ◽

Manufacturing Techniques ◽

Construction Model

Formwork material and payroll are among the greatest costs in building reinforced concrete structures. Therefore, formwork engineering is a key factor affecting project success. Traditional formwork construction entails non-value-adding activities resulting in waste. The objective of this study is to adapt lean manufacturing techniques to formwork engineering in a bid to reduce waste, specifically by developing a lean formwork construction model. In the model, andon is used to establish an on-site quality control culture, allowing form workers to obtain assistance immediately whenever a problem occurs. In addition, formwork operations are pulled through the kanban system to reduce mould inventory and achieve continuous construction flow. A case study is used to validate the applicability of the proposed model. Results show that the proposed model can effectively reduce waste in the formwork construction flow and increase the value of operations, thus providing a new approach to improving formwork engineering.

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Analysing capabilities and resources used to incorporate fruit and vegetables into the family diet: findings from an Australian case study

Critical Dietetics ◽

10.32920/cd.v2i1.774 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 13

Author(s):

Samantha B Meyer

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Vegetable Intake ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Fruit And Vegetables ◽

Fruit And Vegetable ◽

Organizational Skills ◽

Australian Case ◽

Low Income Families ◽

Conducting Research

Research attributes low fruit and vegetable consumption to problems of access, availability and affordability. We conducted, for the first time, a case study with three families designed and analysed using the sustainable Livelihoods Framework. The benefit of such an approach is that we moved away from identified barriers and towards identifying the capabilities and resources low-income families use to incorporate fruit and vegetables into their diets. Mitigating cost and access, we provided families with a box of fresh fruit and vegetables free of charge for up to 10 weeks and observed and recorded how/if the contents were used. Results identify the importance of social networking, organizational skills, knowledge of health benefits, and social structures. This paper demonstrates an effective methodology for understanding the capabilities of, rather than barriers to, low-income families increasing fruit and vegetable intake. Additionally, we provide a ‘how to’ and ‘lessons from the field’ for researchers interested in conducting research of this nature.

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