Foraging behavior of the Himalayan Honeybee, Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae) associated with sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) at Peshawar District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)

Abstract

This paper presents foraging behavior of the Himalayan Honeybee, Apis cerana associated with sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. The current study was conducted under field conditions at New Developmental Farm (NDF), The University of Agriculture Peshawar, (34.01° N, 71.53° E) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan for two consecutive years i.e. 2012 and 2013. A. cerana initiated their foraging activities on floral heads of sunflower early in the morning and ceased in the late/evening hours of the day. Total length of foraging movement comprised of 10 hours. A total of two peaks of feeding activities were recorded. First peak was recorded at 1200 hours, while second peak of foraging was noticed at 1000 hours of the day. From pollination point of view, both peaks were of prime importance. Foraging activities of A. cerana were slowly turned down to its minimum level during late hours of the day i.e. 1800 hr.