Department of Apiculture, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore-560 065, Karnataka, (India).
The foraging and brood rearing activity of rock bee, Apis dorsata Fabr. was studied under Bangalore conditions during 1998–99. The observations revealed that the numher of pollen foragers and foragers with pollen load size were greater during 09.00 to 11.00 h and nectar foragers and nectar load size were maximum during 10.00 to 12.00 h of the day. Minimum foragers and load size were recorded during mid day. Similarly, the number of pollen foragers, size of pollen load and pollen carrying frequency were maximum during October and April. However, the number of nectar foragers, nectar load and nectar carrying frequency were greater during December. Similarly, the maximum brood and pollen area were also recorded during the same period. However, the dearth period was recorded from May to July.
