Abstract

Bee forage plants are the basic sector of successful bee projects because they possess a verified range of species whose flowers contain nectar and pollen grains used in bee feeding. The study is conducted at Valley Maddar and Valley Shohouh in the Valley of Hadhramout. The objectives of the study are to compare bee plant species scattered in the two valleys, to find out the kinds of bee feeding along with the plant quantity measurements of the most important plants, and to find out the reasons behind the rangelands environmental degradation. The survey of plants was carried out in February and March 2017, using systematic sampling plots collection. Results indicated that wild range plants reached 78.5% in Valley Shohouh, compared to 71.4% in Valley Maddar. The range plants in well irrigational areas was found to be 21.4% in Valley Maddar and 14.3 in Valley Shohouh, while equal range plants percentage reached up to 7.2% found in flood plains at the two Valleys. The results also indicated that 87.5% of plants are visited by bees for nectar and pollen grains and 12.5% of are visited for nectar at the two Valleys. The findings revealed that the highest plant degradation and desertification in the sampling plots of the two Valleys are attributed to many reasons. The reasons behind plant degrad ation and desertification in Valley Maddar are: the general dryness (36.4%); overgrazing and insect diseases (18.2%); fuel wood collection, expanding buildings and climbing parasite (9.1%). The percentages of the contribution of the same reasons in the degradation and desertification in Valley Shohouh are: (23.5%) for fuel wood collection and expanding buildings; (17.6%) for general dryness; (11.8%) for overgrazing and insect diseases, and (5.9%) for soil erosion and overcutting.