FORAGING ACTIVITY OF THE ROCK BEE, APIS DORSATA F. ON NIGER

摘要

Foraging activity of the rock bcc. Apis dorsala F. was sludiccl on niger (variety IGP - 76) during kharif season of 2000 at Dharwad in two locations. In each plot, 10 flowers were randomly selected and number of rock bees visiting these flowers per minute was recorded from 1000 to 1600 hours at location 1 and 0600 to 1800 hours with two hours interval at location 2. Foraging activity of the bees varied on different days after flowering in both the locations. However, the mean activity varied from 0.17 to 0.53 bees /10 flowcrs/min in location I and 0.5 to 2.43 bees /10 flowers/min at location 2. The peak aclivily was recorded at 1200 and 1600 hours of the day.