FURTHER-STUDIES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF APIS-CERANA AND APIS-MELLIFERA FORAGING ON APPLE FLOWERS

Studies on the foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera and A. cerana on a pple flowers were conducted in four orchards in the north-west Himalay an region of India, using marked bees. A. mellifera visited significan tly more flowers (mean, 164-193) than A. cerana (mean, 129-172) during single foraging trips at each site. There was no significant differen ce between the two species for number of flowers visited per minute. M ore bees of both species and at all sites foraged for pollen as 'top w orkers' in the morning than later in the day, when 'side working' (for nectar) was more prevalent. A. mellifera and A. cerana did not differ in the proportions of top or side worker bees at the three observatio n times, 09.00, 12.00 and 15.00 h. On average, more bees were seen for aging on sunny than on shady sides of trees but these differences were not significant at all sites. Both species at each location preferred to forage on trees nearer to their hives. Bees tended to move to tree s located in different rows rather than in same rows, presumably becau se rows were oriented up and down slopes. Both species showed the same floral fidelity during pollination: bees in all orchards carried poll en roads that were more than 95% apple pollen.