Indian Journal of Entomology

The trends of brood rearing in Apis cerana indica F. and the causes of absconding have been investigated during 2004 and 2005. The average of two years data indicated that the brood area was maximum during April – May (313.4 – 398.4cm²) and November – December (331.7 – 372.5 cm²) under coastal Orissa conditions. The brood area in ISI - 8 frame hives increased concomitantly with the increase in pollen store. Maximum pollen store of 54.6–63.6cm² and 55.8–73.7cm² have also been recorded during April – May and November – December, respectively. Thus pollen store had appeared to have a significant impact on brood development (r = 0.859**, n=10) and can be taken as criterion for judging healthy colonies. On the contrary, the number of pollen foragers/5 minutes could not exhibit any significant relationship with the quantum of pollen stored in the hives (r = 0.462^ns, n=10). However, a reasonably high number of pollen foragers were recorded during the periods of high brood rearing i.e., April–May (12.0 – 30.5/5 minutes) and November – December (25.0 – 26.015 minutes). A comparison between the normal and absconded colonies in respect of the above factors before the commencement of desertion evidenced that during April – May i.e., the period corresponding to the end of honey flow season, adequate measures are needed to maintain the brood area (> 325 – 500 cm²), pollen store (> 80 cm²), honey store (> 600 cm²), frames with eggs (> 5).