Department of Entomology, Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, H. P. (India).
Studies carried out on the hive perfomance of Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana indica F. on rapeseed revealed that both the species gained considerable bee strength on rapeseed crop. Increase in bee strength of A. mellifera (7 to 11.67 frames) was more than A.c. indica (7 to 9.67 frames). The brood rearing and ultimate gain in bee strength was more in A. mellifera than A. c. indica. Although, both the bee species could not gather any surplus honey stores from rapeseed, yet it proved an important build-up source for them.
