Weed flora sustaining the lives of bees along the east coast agro eco system of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Weeds act as alternate nectar source for honeybees which are now facing problem because of certain external factors. In this study, weeds along the east coastal lines of Tamil Nadu are observed from March 2018 to March 2019covering Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Pondicherry. Due to high salinity, sandy soil fails to support any plant life other than weeds. The majority of flowering weeds are observed and only limited number of weed flora is used for nectar measurement based on its nectar quantity. A micropipette is used to extract and measure the quantity of nectar in weed flowers. The highest nectar yielding weed plant is Cleome viscosa, which produces nectar of about 7.2µl/flower and the least nectar content per flower is shared by Phyla nodiflora and Abutilon indicum with the nectar content of 0.3µl/flower.