Abstract
This paper is the findings of the research conducted on foraging behavior of Native honeybee (Apis cerana F.) and European honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) on flowering buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) inside the cage during November 2012 to 2013 at Meghauli, Chitwan, Nepal. Apis cerana F. started their foraging activities early in the morning (8.24 ± 0.50 AM) and ceased late in the evening (5.18 ± 0.20 PM) in comparison to Apis mellifera L., which started foraging at 8.29 ± 0.50 AM and ceased at 4.56 ± 0.50 PM. The total duration of foraging per day was more in Apis cerana F. than Apis mellifera L., i.e. 8.34 ± 0.90 hours per day in Apis cerana F. and 8.25 ± 0.90 hours per day in Apis mellifera L. That means A. cerana F. was 1.8% more efficient on foraging duration than A. mellifera L. Similarly, the number of Apis cerana F. and Apis mellifera L. entering into the hive in five minutes was the highest (51.69 ± 0.45 in Apis cerana F., and 62.81 ± 0.45 in Apis mellifera L.) at 12 Noon while lowest (11.24 ± 0.11 in Apis cerana F., and 5.89 ± 0.11 in Apis mellifera L.) at 5 PM and no activity was started at 8 AM. Likewise, the number of Apis cerana F. and Apis mellifera L. bees outgoing from the hive in five minutes was the highest (42.67 ± 0.98 in Apis cerana F. and 48.71 ± 0.98 in Apis mellifera L.) at 12 Noon and the lowest (4.31 ± 0.07 in Apis cerana F. and 2.39 ± 0.07 in Apis mellifera L.) at 5 PM. The number of buckwheat flower visited by Apis cerana F. was highest at 10 AM while by Apis mellifera L. it was highest at 12 Noon. But, for both species of honeybees it was lowest at 4 PM. There was more time spent by Apis mellifera L. (2.37 seconds) per flower than Apis cerana F. (1.95 seconds) during floral visit. So, Apis cerana F is efficient in foraging and hence in pollination on buckwheat than Apis mellifera L suggesting buckwheat cultivation along with bee farming especially Apis cerana F.Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(2): 236-239
Highlights
Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is one of the earliest crops domesticated in Asia
(5.18 ± 0.2 PM) compared to Apis mellifera L. which started foraging at 8.29 ± 0.5 AM and ceased at 4.56 ± 0.5 PM
This is in line with Dhakal (2003) who found that A. cerana F. started foraging on buckwheat at 7.03±0.22 AM and ceased their foraging at 4.51±0.15 PM while A. mellifera L. started foraging at 7.29±0.28 AM and ceased at 4.48±0.13 PM
Summary
Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is one of the earliest crops domesticated in Asia. It is called a pseudo cereal because of its similar nature in uses but it is dicot plant and does not belong to true cereals, it belongs to the family Polygonaceae (Bjorkman, 1995). In Nepal, this crop occupies 10,339 ha of land area with productivity of 0.97 t/ha (MoAD, 2012). It attains a height of 60 to 150 cm or more. The flowering in buckwheat is from bottom to top and from inside to outside of the branches
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