What is pasturage? Why is it important in apiculture?

Apiculture (bee keeping) refers to the rearing of bees and maintaining bee hives and colonies by humans to obtain honey and bee wax. Pasturage refers to the flowers and plants (vegetation) available near the bee hives for the bees to feed on nectar. The bees collect nectar and pollen grains (which serve as food) from flowers to produce honey.

Pasturage plays an important role in apiculture as it directly determines the quality, quantity and taste of honey. The better the yield of pasturage better will be the quality of honey.