Incidence of insect enemies on honey bee, Apis mellifera L. during floral dearth period

Experiments were conducted in the Apiary of the Department of Agricultural Entomology at Main Experiment Station of Horticulture Farm of Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, to find out the types of insect species and their peak period of incidence on honeybee (Apis mellifera) during floral dearth period i.e. June to September 2005–06. Three major insect enemies, viz., yellow banded brown wasp (Vespa orientalis), red ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) and wax moth (Galleria mellonella) were found to infest A. mellifera colony. Amongst these, V. orientalis was recorded to be most destructive to the bees, being more active in the morning hrs followed by O. smaragdina and G. mellonella. The maximum number of wasp (6.80) was observed during 30^th standard week as against 1.09 during 43^rd standard week. The number of O. smaragdina/hive/hr was recorded to be maximum (210.66) in the 17^th standard week, whereas the incidence of G. mellonella appeared to be very negligible.