Factors influencing the transformation of nectar to honey in Apis cerana indica

The factors like TRS, NRS, ash, acidity and pH were detected in five stages of honey ripening process of indigenous hive honeybee Apis cerana indica. Five stages of nectar to honey transformation comprise floral nectar (fn), honey crop of foragers (hf), honey crop of house bees (hh), unsealed honey cells (uh) and sealed honey cells (sh). The TRS of fn and sh cells was 2.12% and 73.01% respectively. Correspondingly NRS of hh and uh cells was 14.90% and 7.50%. The ash content of hf and sh cells was 0.20% and 1.49% respectively, whereas the acidity of sh cells and hf was 0.503 and 0.06 respectively. Similarly pH of hh and uh cells had a value of 1.03 and 2.61. All the five parameters viz., TRS, NRS, ash, acidity and pH tested apart from NRS were less in floral nectaries and maximum in sealed honey cells. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of TRS of ripening of honey was significant at P<0.01% levels, while NRS, ash, acidity and pH in honey formation was not found significant at P<0.01% levels.