Six-Year Population Fluctuation of the Giant Honey Bee <I>Apis dorsata</I> (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in a Tropical Lowland Dipterocarp Forest in Sarawak

Abstract

Abstract The giant honey bee Apis dorsata F. inhabits lowland tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia, where a general, community-wide flowering occurs at intervals of 4 yr on average. The numerical response by the honey bee population to the drastic increase of flower resources during general flowering was investigated for 6 yr by monthly light-trapping and by nest counts in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Borneo. The numbers of A. dorsata workers obtained by light-trapping were highest during general flowering periods, whereas very few workers were trapped in other periods. The abundance of A. dorsata nests showed temporal correspondence with the abundance of trapped workers, and the nests disappeared in the nonflowering periods. These data suggest that the A. dorsata population increases rapidly in response to general flowering and that this is initiated by nonseasonal, long-distance migration. Drones of A. dorsata were present during the general flowering period, but there is no evidence that reproduct...