Abstract
Abstract Stingless bees constitute an important group of bee diversity providing a vital ecological service i.e. pollination. From India, nine species of stingless bees have been reported out of which Tetragonula iridipennis Smith is widely distributed. Studies revealed that the majority (86.67%) of these bees’ nests were present in brick walls and the remaining (13.33%) were in cavities of hollow tree trunks. Most of the colonies nested at a height of 3.50 m from the ground. Most of the nests (56.67%) had entrances oriented to the east. No distinct entrance tube was observed in 26.92 per cent of the colonies. Overall average entrance tube dimensions (longer side diameter × shorter side diameter × tube length) were 11.62 × 11.73 × 14.04 mm. In all the nests, brood area was surrounded by pollen pots and a few honey pots. The mean dimensions (depth × width) of brood cells, honey pots and pollen pots were 2.79 × 2.62 mm, 5.33 × 4.52 mm and 6.93 × 5.19 mm, respectively. All of the sixty colonies whether in brick/stone walls or in hollow tree trunks overwintered successfully. Our results can be useful for developing conservation measures for T. iridipennis and its augmentation for crop pollination.
Highlights
More than 503 species of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) occur worldwide (Ascher & Pickering, 2017), and the majority are confined to tropical or subtropical regions (Michener, 2007)
Several reports are available on various aspects of the biology and rearing of T. iridipennis, and the majority of them are the outcome of work conducted under tropical conditions on nesting preference (Pavithra et al, 2013), spatial distribution (Sheetal & Basavarajappa, 2009) and nest structure (Dannaraddi et al, 2009)
The details are given as follows: Nesting site Nests were usually concealed inside the hollows of tree trunks or cracks in the cemented
Summary
More than 503 species of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) occur worldwide (Ascher & Pickering, 2017), and the majority are confined to tropical or subtropical regions (Michener, 2007). Nesting behaviour of Tetragonula iridipennis al., 2005) and cucumbers (Santos et al, 2008) This shows the immense potential of these tiny bees to be used as important and effective pollinators of many crop species (Slaa et al, 2006). The present study will help in understanding how this species persists in such harsh climatic conditions, which will form a basis to develop a species-specific conservation strategy. This bee can be utilized in managed pollination programmes, which necessitate the hiving in artificial hives for easy multiplication. The present study has been conducted to understand the nesting site preference and nest architecture of the stingless bee in North-west India for the first time
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