G.P. Painkra* and Sachin Kumar Jaiswal
Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur
All India Coordinated Research Project on Honey Bees and Pollinators,
Department of Entomology, Raj Mohini Devi College of Agriculture and Research Station, Ambikapur-497001(Chhattisgarh) India.
Email: gppainkrarmd@gmail.com
Received-30.11.2021, Revised-05.01.2022, Accepted-25.01.2022
Abstract: A study was undertaken at Raj Mohini Devi College of Agriculture and Research station, Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh) substation of Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) India. The foraging behavior of European honey bee, Apis mellifera was observed in Litchi (orchard) flowers during 27 February 2021- 02April 2021. The maximum foraging activity of honey bee was observed third week of March 2021 (32.76 bees/5min/plant) followed by second week of March 2021 (25.38 bees/5min/plant) and fourth week of March 2021 (122.45 bees/5min/plant) however the lowest population was recorded during first week of April 2021 (6.61 bees/5min/plant). Similarly during the different hours of the day the maximum population of honey bees were recorded at 10.00-11.00 AM (20.63 bees/5min/plant) followed by at 11.00AM-12.00PM (19.72 bees/5min/plant) and at 9.00-10.00AM (19.27 bees/5min/plant). However the lowest population was recorded at 3.00-4.00PM (12.08 bees/5min/plant).
Keywords: European honey bee, foraging behavior, litchi flowers, weather parameters
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