Foraging efficiency and food bait standardization in stingless bee, Tetragonula travancorica Shanas and Faseeh (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae)
Abstract
Stingless bees, Tetragonula travancorica (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae) are small to mediumsized eusocial bees predominantly found in tropical and subtropical regions. They have been domesticated for centuries, primarily for crop pollination. The study mainly focused on standardizing food bait and calculating the foraging distance of T. travancorica, a widely distributed stingless bee species in peninsular India. The standardization of food bait was carried out using an artificial feeder technique and the various food baits were evaluated including sugar, honey, and jaggery solutions of 35, 50, and 75 per cent concentrations, among them, 35 per cent sugar solution was found to be the most effective food bait in attracting T. travancorica. The average foraging distance of stingless was 378 m with a minimum foraging distance of 100 m and a maximum of 400 m. The number of bees attracted to the food bait decreased with the increases in the foraging distance. The study emphasizes the importance of bait concentration, strategic placement of stingless bee colonies for enhancing pollination efficiency and provides insights for advancing meliponiculture and pollination strategies.
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