Activity of Honey Bees on Brassica Crops in Himachal Pradesh

Harsimran  Kaur; Surender K.  Sharma; Vasu  Mehta

doi:10.55446/IJE.2021.378

Authors

Harsimran Kaur Department of Entomology, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur 176062, Himachal Pradesh
Surender K. Sharma Department of Entomology, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur 176062, Himachal Pradesh
Vasu Mehta Department of Entomology, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur 176062, Himachal Pradesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55446/IJE.2021.378

Abstract

Behavioral studies of honey bees are very important to promote pollination. Foraging speed and rate are such vital behavioral patterns. This study evaluates the foraging attributes of honey bees on Brassica with experiments done at different sites chosen in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Apis mellifera is observed to show a significantly maximum foraging rate of 13.25 and 13.89 flowers/ min on toria and mustard, respectively. Whereas, the foraging speed was maximum for A. cerana (5.20 sec/ flower) on toria and A. mellifera (4.42 sec/ flower) on mustard.