Foraging Efficiency of Indian Honeybees, Apis Cerana Indica (Fabricius) Apidae: Hymenoptera

Foraging efficiency of a colony was measured in terms of number of bees with pollen load entering into the hive. The floral sources present near the colonies on which bees reached for pollen collection were observed. Honeybees play a vital role in foraging behavior of worker bees such as weather, distance of food source from the hive, food quality& quantity of nectar and pollen. Normally honey is obtained from the species Apis dorsata, Apis florea, Apis cerena indica and Italian bee, Apis mellifera but Indian honeybees are domesticated bees. Moreover a single foraging trip of A. cerena indica foragers tend to collect either pollen (or) nectar sometimes from a single species of plant, continuing to collect pollen (or) nectar from that plant throughout the day.