Studies on Behavioural Traits of Two Different Strains of Indian Honey Bee Apis cerana Indica F

Productive efficiency of the apicultural industry depends upon improvements in bee breed, bee management and bee forage. The behavioural traits such as pollen carrying capacity, pollen and honey stores and colony population were compared for black and yellow strains of Indian honey bee Apis. cerana indica F. Observations of honey bees showing maximum activity support the conjecture that pollen foragers carry relatively little fluid during the hottest periods and pollen foraging decreased at high ambient temperatures. The notable difference in the activity between the species may occur due to availability of pollen source, variation in genetic character, preference for pollen, foraging efficiency, foraging distance and competition for pollen. The mean pollen carrying capacity of foraging bees at different times of the day in the study period and mean pollen stores and honey stores of foraging bees at all seasons of the study period and also population count in a colony acts as a parameter for comparison of black and yellow strains. The final outcome of the study interprets that black strain has higher pollen carrying capacity, maximum area under pollen and honey stores and relatively high population when compared with the yellow strain.