SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION AND NESTING BIOLOGY OF COLONIES OF THE AFRICAN HONEY-BEE APIS-MELLIFERA-SCUTELLATA (HYMENOPTERA, APIDAE) IN BOTSWANA, AFRICA

The spatial distribution and nesting biology were examined for natural ly occurring colonies of the African honey bee race Apis mellifera scu tellata (Lepeletier) in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana. Colonies h ad a density of 4.2/km(2) but exhibited considerable spatial clumping. Nest aggregations did not appear to result from short swarm dispersal distances, clumped resources or benefits derived from increased nest defense. Nests occurred predominantly in wooden cavities, particularly in abandoned woodpecker nests in dead palm trees. Nest cavities had a volume of approximate to 33 liters and south-facing, top-located entr ances. Colonies constructed approximate to 6,000 cm(2) of comb, devote d the majority of comb area to worker brood production, stored relativ ely little food, and allocated approximate to 8% of comb area to drone rearing. A comparison of the A. m. scutellata colonies in the Okavang o with neotropical African colonies throughout Central and South Ameri ca revealed that the neotropical colonies were more likely to construc t exposed comb nests and less likely to occupy wooden cavities. Howeve r, no differences were found between the Okavango and neotropical colo nies in nest density, cavity volume, total comb area, or the proportio ns of comb devoted to worker brood production, food storage or drone r earing. Thus, the aspects of nesting biology examined appear to have r emained largely unchanged from the ancestral African condition during the colonization of Central and South America.