Foraging Behavior and Pollination Efficiency of Honey Bee Species on Apple Ber (Z. mauritiana Lamk.)

Abstract

The foraging behavior and pollination efficiency of honey bee species on Apple ber (Z. mauritiana Lamk.) were carried out in the Apple ber orchard situated at the Horticulture Experimental Area and P.G. Laboratory of the Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar during 2022. The maximum foraging rate was observed in Apis dorsata (19.47 flowers per minute) and lowest foraging rate was observed in Apis florea (8.29 flowers/minute). The maximum mean foraging speed was observed in Apis florea 6.22 seconds for nectar reward and it was lowest in Apis dorsata (2.33 seconds) for pollen reward. The loose pollen grains (LPG) carrying capacity was highest for Apis dorsata (109584) followed by Apis mellifera (71827) and it was lowest for Apis florea (42806). The maximum Relative Pollination efficiency (RPE) was recorded in Apis dorsata (16.21) followed by Apis mellifera (14.45) and it was lowest in case of Apis cerana (4.90). It was observed that pollen (13.18) and nectar+pollen (13.05) foragers exhibited maximum and second maximum RPE, respectively.