Floral Diversity for Foraging of the Asiatic Honey Bee, Apis cerana indica (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Madurai District of Tamil Nadu, India
Hemalatha1*, J. Jayaraj2, M. Murugan3, T.N. Balamohan4, N. Senthil5, C. Chinniah1 and K. Suresh1
1Department of Agric. Entomology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
2Department of Agric. Entomology, Grapes Research Station, Rayappanpatti, Theni, Tamil Nadu, India
3Department of Differently Abled Studies, Community Science College and Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
4Department of Horticulture, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
5Department of Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
*Corresponding author
Abstract:
The Asiatic honey bee, Apis cerana indica harvests pollen and nectar from the flowers and helps in pollination process. Bee pasturage in the location is essential for better management of the hives and improving the yield. Floral diversity in the Madurai region was studied which revealed that the flora was belonging to 76 families. Among them family Fabaceae contributed a maximum of 31 species (12.25%) followed by Asteraceae 6.72% with 17 flora, Caesalpiniaceae (5.53%) and Cucurbitaceae (4.74%). The grouping of bee pasturage revealed that 41 were nectar yielders, 30 were pollen yielders and 182 of both nectar and pollen yielders.
Keywords: cerana indica, Foraging flora, Pollen yielder, Nectar yielder
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How to cite this article:
Hemalatha, D., J. Jayaraj, M. Murugan, T.N. Balamohan, N. Senthil, C. Chinniah and Suresh, K. 2018. Floral Diversity for Foraging of the Asiatic Honey Bee,
Apis cerana indica (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Madurai District of Tamil Nadu, India.
Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci. 7(10): 3452-3456. doi:
https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.710.400
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