Yes it may be

Assumption:

1. Bees would be more if the plants are healthy.

2. Plants would be healthy if they receive the optimal quantity of water, other variables being same.

3. Cost of providing water impacts the health of plants. Consider the same area. The method with the least cost would give the most bees.

Any irrigation system that minimizes the cost for the delivery of the same amount of water that gets used by the plant would be preferred by the farmer.

The following URL does not open in Google Chrome, but opens in Firefox.

https://dnrc.mt.gov/wrd/water_rts/appro_info/presentations/flood_sprinkler_conversion.pdf

From Figure 1 we conclude that the cheaper it is to give 1 cft of water that gets absorbed by the plant, the better it is.

From page 14 of 27, crop uses 25% of water supplied through flood irrigation.

From page 15 of 27, crop uses 75% of water supplied through sprinkler.

Conclusion: Bees would be more under sprinkler irrigation compared to flood irrigation.

http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/irrigate/OOW/P98/Selley_EconConversFloodtoPivot.pdf

Flood irrigation, even though covers the full field is costlier than pivot irrigation. So we conclude that bees would be more under pivot irrigation compared to flood irrigation.

We have not compared the cost due to drip irrigation with respect to pivot, or sprinkler as it is well known that drip irrigation is the best. We recommend the following to optimize drip irrigation.

http://ucanr.edu/sites/scmg/files/30917.pdf

From a qualitative perspective, there would be more bees under drip irrigation compared to sprinkler, pivot, and flood irrigation.

There would be more bees under sprinkler irrigation compared to pivot and flood irrigation. Sprinkler irrigation irrigates the complete field in contrast to pivot that irrigates a circular field only. More plants, more bees.

There would be more bees under pivot compared to flood.

Qualitative is fine. How about quantitative results?

Suggestions follow:

http://greatpollinatorproject.org/sites/all/downloads/pdfs/Bee_Fact_Sheet_rev051608.pdf

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Most species operate within a small range (100 meters).

• Many populations can be managed in small areas. (Lends itself well to urban

conservation.)

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Take a field 200 meter x 200 meter square for each type of irrigation. That is, 40,000 sq meters for flood; central pivot, sprinkler, and drip. Total of 160,000 sq meters or 16 hectares.

Contact the researchers of the following URL and buy four bee hotels from them. They might be happy to collaborate as well. Explore the possibility.

http://www.wmur.com/escape-outside/bee-hotel-to-open-as-part-of-research-project-studying-bee-species/26363090?tru=XeHwD#mid=19199484

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Jun 07, 2014

The team includes NHAES researcher Sandra Rehan, assistant professor of biological sciences; UNH Cooperative Extension specialist Cathy Neal, extension professor of plant biology; and Woodman Farm staff.

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Select a plant. Estimate the project cost; get funds; perform research and publish quantitative results for 3 years or so; one report each year.

I studied the impacts of converting centre pivots from over-canopy sprays (100% canopy wetted) to bubbler emitters (only about 10% of the canopy wetted). The crop was Lucerne (Alfalfa), grown primarily for seed production, therefore pollination was a critical factor. The work was carried out in the South East region of South Australia.

The feedback from the irrigator was that bee activity was greatly reduced under the over-canopy application method, primarily due to the reduction in temperature as a result of wetting the foliage. Temperatures in the foliage of the over-canopy irrigated crop (irrigated daily) remained around 18 degrees Celcius, while in the under canopy irrigated crop (less frequent, deeper applications) temperatures ranged up to 40 degrees.

When water was applied via bubblers there was little foliage wetting, and minimal cooling, so the bees remained active, and seed set was increased. This scenario is also the case with flood irrigation, which is common in this region, so in this case bee activity is greater under flood than under standard centre pivot, in contrast to the conclusions reached by Mohideen Ibramsha above.

The impacts of irrigation system type on the bee colony is likely not as extreme as the impacts on activity in the target crop, as there will be other food sources available, and the bees will presumably substitute these when the primary target crop is unavailable.

I will add this report to my profile, and upload a copy in case you wish to read more about this.

Thanks a lot for the comments and contributions!

Mark, I really want to read more about it and I appreciate if you can upload the report.

Dear Mark

I too am waiting to read the report. Please upload.

I believe food production would move to greenhouses because of hostile climate. The temperature inside a greenhouse is normally higher than the ambient. Assuming that we open the windows of a greenhouse during some hours of the day, would the bees enter the greenhouses?

Even with open windows, I expect the temperature inside a greenhouse to be higher than the ambient. My question is: Do bees tolerate higher than ambient temperature? From your information, am I right in deducing that bees do not tolerate lower than ambient temperatures?

Juliana and Mohideen, I am glad I could contribute something meaningful to your discussion. I have added the full text of the report I referred to earlier (see link).

Regarding bee activity in glasshouses, I din't believe that temperature in the glasshouse is a problem for bees, but I am not sure how effective leaving the windows open will be. I think intentional introduction of hives is required, much the same as is practiced in almond orchards here in Australia (and elsewhere I believe).

I have read that there can be issues with acclimatizing bees to working indoors, as they continue to try to get out through the glass, but this is not my area of expertise.

Technical Report Innovative Lucerne Seed Irrigation in the South East of Sout...

Just keep in mind that central pivots or any rainy-like irrigation may prevent bees from visiting flowers while water saving strategies may concentrate the nectar (depending on the crop) and the flower become more attractive to bees in realtion to competing flower species around. 

http://calag.ucanr.edu/archive/?type=pdf&article=ca.2016a0017

Article Effects of Irrigation Method on Pollination and Pollinators ...