Floristic Composition, Richness and Diversity of Vegetation Surrounding an Apiary and Its Potential as Forage Resources for Apis mellifera in the Peruvian Amazon

Honey bees (Apis mellifera), depend on the availability and diversity of floral resources within the landscape for their survival and productivity. This study characterized the floristic composition, richness and diversity of vegetation in a beekeeping area of the Peruvian Amazon in order to evaluate its potential to provide forage resources for honey bees. Vegetation was surveyed within a circular area of 28.3 km2 centered on an apiary, where 24 quadrats were distributed along four transects. Species composition analyses were conducted for the general floristic composition and for species with bee foraging potential, followed by PERMANOVA and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses. A total of 124 plant species belonging to 103 genera were recorded. Among them, 90 species belonging to 75 genera were identified as bee forage species, of which 23% were classified as pollen sources, whereas 77% provided both nectar and pollen. Both the general floristic composition and the bee forage species assemblage were dominated by the low vegetation stratum (≥86%), indicating a high prevalence of herbaceous species. Shannon, Simpson, evenness, and Berger–Parker dominance indices for the general floristic composition were 2.05 (0.38), 0.81 (0.08), 0.79 (0.09), and 0.32 (0.11), respectively, with no significant differences among land-cover types, transect orientations, or distances from the apiary, except for the Berger–Parker dominance index, for which distance had a significant effect. PERMANOVA revealed significant differences in species composition among land-cover types and transects (p < 0.05) for both the general floristic composition and bee forage species, which was further supported by NMDS analysis (stress = 0.16). The high proportion of plant species with documented floral resources and the heterogeneous landscape indicate substantial potential floral resource availability. These findings provide a baseline for understanding the floral resources supporting beekeeping in the study area and highlight the need for future validation through honey bee visitation, palynological, phenological, and resin-resource studies.