This study investigated the outgoing and pollen-gathering foraging activities of Apis mellifera jemenitica (AMJ) and Apis mellifera carnica (AMC) under a hot-arid environment in the presence of nectar-rich melliferous Ziziphus nummularia flora. The data revealed the differential effects of weather conditions and Z. nummularia flora on the foraging activities of the studied honey bee subspecies in the Rawdat-Khuraim oasis in central Saudi Arabia. Z. nummularia exhibited two flowering seasons, from June–July (season I) and August–October (season II), with a significantly higher mean flowering density observed during season II (404 flowers/m²) than during season I (235 flowers/m²). AMJ showed significantly higher foraging activities (outgoing and pollen-gathering) than AMC (exotic bees) during all months in each flowering season. The mean outgoing and pollen-gathering foraging rates of AMJ (32.40 ± 0.67 and 4.88 ± 0.40 workers/colony/min, respectively) were significantly higher than those of AMC (15.93 ± 1.20 and 2.39 ± 0.23 workers/colony/min, respectively). The outgoing and pollen-gathering foraging activities of the two subspecies fluctuated throughout the different times of day. Foraging activities were considerably high at sunrise (SR) and low at noon (N) during both flowering seasons. We also observed seasonal variations in the foraging activities of both bee subspecies. The mean foraging activities (outgoing and pollen-gathering) were slightly higher in season I (27.43 ± 1.21 and 4.46 ± 0.45 workers/colony/min, respectively) than in season II (21.71 ± 0.86 and 3.02 ± 0.22 workers/colony/min, respectively). The thermal window analysis revealed a significant difference between the flight activities (bees exiting and returning to the nest throughout the day) of AMJ and AMC; AMJ had a higher temperature threshold than AMC. The outgoing and pollen-gathering foraging activities within each bee subspecies were positively correlated. The present study can help researchers understand the performances of honeybees and the association of their performances with weather and nectar-rich flora conditions.

There is no doubt that nutrition has a great effect on honeybee colonies strength. So that, the experiment was carried out in fifteen colonies divided into five groups and fed two protein (chickpeas or fat-free soybeans) or two nectar (Essence or cinnamon) supplement diets during summer, spring and autumn. The obtained results showed that, the relationship between different nutrition diets and seasons had significant (p≤ 0.05) effect on various biological variables. Stored honey area recorded the highest value in Autumn for T4 fed Essence +sugar solution. The highest stored pollen area recorded for colonies fed (Chickpeas + powdered sugar + cinnamon + turmeric) and (Essence + sugar solution). The unsealed worker brood area recorded the highest value in T5(Cinnamon + sugar solution) followed byT2(Chickpeas + powdered sugar + cinnamon + turmeric) while, the sealed worker brood area recorded the highest value in T4(Essence + sugar solution) and T3(Fat-free soybeans + powdered sugar + cinnamon + turmeric) which means that the interaction between different types of nutrition and seasonal variation significantly affects biological activities.