Nesting attributes of dwarf bee, Apis florea F. under urban ecosystem of Manasagangotri campus, Mysore, India

Narayanaswamy, R. and Basavarajappa, S. (2013) Nesting attributes of dwarf bee, Apis florea F. under urban ecosystem of Manasagangotri campus, Mysore, India. European Journal of Zoological Research, 2 (6). pp. 6-15. ISSN 2278–7356

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Abstract

Observation on dwarf bee, Apis florea Fabricius 1973 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) was conducted at Manasagangotri campus, Mysore by employing an all out search method (AOSM). Total 139 A. florea normal colonies and 60 abandoned combs were recorded with a ratio 1: 0.43. Highest (36) normal colonies were recorded in February followed by March (31), April (29) and January (23). However, during May and June, the normal colonies were less in number (10 each). Normal colonies exhibited various shapes namely: asymmetrical (82), round (43) and oval (14) and showed significant variation (F=6.78; P>0.01) during different months. Further, A. florea population was not uniform, did varied significantly (F=26.59; P>0.05) during different months. A. florea normal colonies were located interior and on road side, majorities were protected from direct sunlight and the level of visibility did indicated a significant variation (F=6.457; P>0.01) during different months. A. florea built small sized comb at lower elevations that ranged between ground level to up to 50 ft height and did gets attracted for lower elevations i.e., ground level to up to 15 feet height for nesting with northeast-southwest orientations more compared to other orientations. Normally, the comb had 12.52 x 16.77cm length x width with six queen cells, 80 to100 drone cells, hundred of worker cells for brooding and honey storing. There were 24 different plant species which belong to 19 families along with few rough/smooth surfaced human built structures (HBS) selected by A. florea for nesting. Saraca asoca, Bougainvillea spectabilis, Muntinagia calabura, Terminalia catappa were most preferred nesting plants.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: B Life Science > Zoology
Divisions: Department of > Zoology
Depositing User: LA manjunath user
Date Deposited: 22 Oct 2019 08:00
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2019 08:00
URI: http://eprints.uni-mysore.ac.in/id/eprint/9416

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