Preference of Indian Honey Bee, Apis cerena indica Fab. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) for Varying Sucrose Concentrations and Colours
Saleemali Kannihalli *
Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005, Karnataka, India.
Sahana M
Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005, Karnataka, India.
Shashank D U
Department of Entomology, PGCA, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), Bihar 848 125, India.
A S Vastrad
Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005, Karnataka, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Nectar foraging provides honey bees with essential energy and enhance pollination, supporting biodiversity. Flower colour attracts and guide them to nectar rich flowers promoting effective pollination. With this background, a study was conducted at apiary, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad to investigate the preference of honey bees to different concentrations of sucrose and colours. It was found that the highest activity of honey bees occurred between 10 AM to 11 AM. Among the different sucrose concentrations offered, honey bees showed a preference for 40 per cent concentration with an average of 9.53 bees/petri plate/5 mins over others. Colour preference experiment demonstrated that honey bees preferred yellow color the most, followed by blue, white and red, with 9.07, 6.00, 3.67 and 1.60 bees/petri plate/5 mins, respectively. The present study revealed that honey bees optimize their foraging activity by choosing flowers with higher nectar amounts and yellow coloured flowers.
Keywords: Concentrations of sucrose, colours, honey bees, preference, foraging