Nest orientation of Asian giant honeybee, Apis dorsata in plains of Karnataka, India

The giant honeybee, Apis dorsata build nests on both natural and manmade structures by orienting their nests towards different directions. The observations revealed that, the giant honeybee colonies were well distributed on tall buildings, trees and rock cliffs and orientated their nests towards Northeast direction in greater numbers. However, the nests built on trees and rock cliffs showed better orientation towards Northeast and East-West directions respectively. A. dorsata also showed differential levels of nest orientation when distributed individually and in groups. Comparatively, the bee nests were oriented towards Northeast and Southwest direction on buildings and North-South and Northwest direction on trees on distribution of colonies both individually and in groups. However, on rock cliffs, irrespective of individual or group distribution, the nests were oriented towards East-West direction in large numbers. Results revealed concluded that, A. dorsata colonies orient their nests towards all compass directions but they preferred Northeast direction on buildings, North-South on trees and East-West direction on rock cliffs in plains of South Karnataka, India.