Lysa Regitha Septiani

2210612053
English 02

FORAGING BEHAVIOUR OF STINGLESS BEE, TETRAGONULA

IRIDIPENNIS (SMITH)
P. G. Mythri1*, R. N. Kencharaddi2, S. Venukumar3, L. Hanumantharaya4, M. Shivaprasad5
and G. N. Hosagoudar2
1
Department of Agriculture, Karnataka State Government, Virajpet - 571 218, India.
2
Department of Entomology, College of Forestry, Ponnampet - 571 216, India.
3
Department of Entomology, KRCCH, Arabhavi - 591 218, India.
4
Department of Entomology, College of Horticulture, Mudigere - 577 132, India.
5
Department of Agronomy, ZAHRS, Mudigere - 577 132, India.
Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga - 577 204, India.
*e-mail : mythrigandhi@gmail.com
(Received 29 September 2022, Revised 28 October 2022, Accepted 27 November 2022)

ABSTRACT : Stingless bees are important pollinators in the ecosystem and a source of highly valued honey, propolis and
pollen, are considered as important non-timber forest products from the forest ecosystem. As a part of the study undertaken on the
seasonal development of stingless bee colonies, Tetragonula iridipennis (Smith) at Forestry College campus Ponnampet,
observations were made on their foraging behaviour. The parameters considered were the total number of outgoing bees,
incoming pollen and nectar foragers and the number of bees going out of the hive carrying the debris. Observations were
recorded at monthly intervals in five colonies for a period of five minutes at two hourly intervals from 6 AM to 6 PM. The data
obtained were pooled on a quarterly basis and the mean number of foraging bees in each category (outgoing, pollen, nectar
carriers and debris removing) was worked out. During the months of July-September, the mean number of outgoing bees
ranged from 15.31 between 6.00 to 8.00 hr to 65.31 between 1200-1400 hrs. The mean number of pollen and nectar carriers was
found to be 9.32 and 11.98 between 6.00-8.00 hr. respectively. Maximum pollen and nectar carriers were observed during the
period of 12.00-14.00 hr with a mean number of 31.98 and 51.64, respectively. Then onwards there was a decline in the number
of foragers. During the months of October-December, the maximum number of outgoing bees (55.64) was noticed between
12.00-14.00 hrs and their minimum number (16.33) was found to be at 6.00-8.00 hrs. Maximum activity of pollen and nectar
carriers was found between 10.00-12.00 hrs with 44.32 and 54.65 bees, respectively. Observations on the number of bees
involved in the removal of debris indicated maximum activity between 12.00 to 14.00 hrs during the months of July to September
and between 8.00 to 10.00 hrs during October to December.
Key words : Stingless bees, queen, foraging behavior, Tetragonula iridipennis, activity.

How to cite : P. G. Mythri, R. N. Kencharaddi, S. Venukumar, L. Hanumantharaya, M. Shivaprasad and G. N. Hosagoudar (2023)
Foraging behaviour of stingless bee, Tetragonula iridipennis (Smith). J. Exp. Zool. India 26, 461-466. DOI: https://doi.org/
10.51470/jez.2023.26.1.461, DocID: https://connectjournals.com/03895.2023.26.461

INTRODUCTION Nine species of crops are confirmed as effectively

Stingless bees are important pollinators in the
ecosystem. They are quite helpful both under open and
protected cultivation of bee-pollinated crops (Heard,
1999). There are about 500 species of stingless bees in
the world (Wille, 1983). Compared to other species of
bees, stingless bees are easy to maintain, they have less
tendency to abscond and survive on very little resources.
They do not have the severity of pest and disease
occurrence.
pollinated by stingless bees and the bees are known to
make a contribution to the pollination of nearly 60 other
crops. Their small size allows them to have access to
many kinds of flowers whose openings are too narrow to
permit penetration by other bees and they are common
while to flowering plants in the tropics (Heard, 1999).
They react to changes in colony needs by initiating
food collecting at a younger age or by increasing their
foraging activity when the food reserves are low (Fewell
and Winston, 1992). Individuals alter the colony status
462 P. G. Mythri et al
by increasing the amount of food that is stored or by
repairing the nest. Individual foraging decisions are not
only directed by colony needs, but also by previous
experience probably through simple feedback
mechanisms (Pasteels et al, 1987). According to
Michener (1974), colony development depends on the
success of the foraging flight and the ability to bring
resources to the nest from carefully chosen flowers.
In recent years the highly valued honey of stingless
bees and their role in pollination prompted people to get
into Meliponiculture. The study of foraging behaviour
forms a basis for planning certain colony management
strategies. Hence, the present investigation was taken
up.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was undertaken at the Forestry College
campus, Ponnampet during the year 2017-18. Five
randomly selected Stingless bee colonies with uniform
strength were marked and observations were made on
the number of outgoing bees i.e., the bees that are coming
out from the colony, and the bees carrying debris from
inside the hive were counted as debris-removing bees.
Observations were also made on the number of
incoming bees, those bees entering the hive with pollen
load in their
Plates 1-4 : Outgoing bees, nector carriers, pollen carriers and debris-removing bees.
corbichula were considered as pollen collectors and the
bees without pollen load were as nectar foragers (Plates
1 to 4). All these observations of the number of bees
were made for a period of 5 minutes at two hourly
intervals from morning 6 AM to evening 6 PM and at
every monthly interval for a period of 9 months from
July 2017 to March 2018.
The data obtained were pooled on a quarterly basis
from monsoon (July to September), winter (October to
December) and summer (January to March) and also
month-wise. Then the data was analyzed.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Foraging activity during the monsoon season
During monsoon months the number of pollen
foragers ranged from the lowest of 1.86 bees per 5
minutes at 600-800 hrs to the maximum of 6.40 bees for
five minutes at 1200-1400 hrs with a mean of 4.26 bees
for five minutes.
The number of nectar collectors during the same
season recorded a significant difference at different timing
of the day, with the peak activity at 1200-1400 hrs (10.33
bees/5 min) followed by 1000-1200 hrs (8.40 bees/5 min)
and 800-1000 hrs (5.46 bee/5 min). The lowest activity
 Evaluation of ecological engineering approaches for the management of gall formers in chilli 463

Fig. 1 : Graphical representation of the activity of the foragers of Stingless Bees during the month of July to September.

Fig. 2 : Graphical representation of the activity of the foragers of Stingless Bees during the month of Oct. to Dec.

(2.40 bees/ 5 min) was observed at 600-800 hrs. Similarly,
the number of debris-removing bees was lowest (0.53
bee/ 5 min) at 600-800 hrs and gradually increased to
2.06 bees per five min at 1000-1200 hrs and recorded at
the same level at 1200-1400 hrs. Then onwards it began
to decline (1.33 bees/ 5 min) at 1400-1600 hrs and by
1600-1800 hrs it was 0.64 bees per five min.
There was a significant difference in the total number
of outgoing bees with the highest number at 1200-1400
hrs (11.26 bees/ 5 min) followed by 1000-1200 hrs (9.46
bees/ 5 min) and at 1400-1600 hrs (8.60 bees/5 min).
The lowest number of total outgoing bees were observed
at 6000-800 hrs (2.66/ 5 min) followed by 1600-1800 hrs
(4.40/5 min) (Table 1 and Fig. 1).
Foraging activity during the winter season
During the winter season, the significantly highest
number of bees involvement in pollen collection was
observed at 1000-1200 hrs (9.20 bees/5 min), followed
by at 1200-1400 hrs (7.33 bees/5 min), however, the
number at these two timings stood on par with each other.
There were 1.53 bees per five minutes at 600-800 hrs
and it was 4.66 by 800-1000 hr. The number of pollen
foragers stood on par at 800-1000 hrs and 1400-1600 hrs
(4.66 and 5.93 bees/ 5 min). In the case of the nectar
collector, the number gradually increased from the lowest
of 2.40 bees per five min at 600-800 hrs to 7.26 at 800-
1000 hr and 11.06 at 1000-1200 hr then onwards the
activity declined to 7.93 bees per five min at 1400-1600
hrs and 4.00 bees per five min at 1600-1800 hrs.
The number of bees removing the debris also showed
a statistically significant difference between different
hours of the day, with peak (2.20 bees/5 min) activity at
464 P. G. Mythri et al
Table 1 : Activity-wise mean number of forager bees (no./5 min) at different timings of the day during monsoon season (July- September).
Mean number of foragers involved
in the activity of Total number of
Time of the day outgoing bees
Pollen collector bees Nectar collector bees Debris removal bees
600-800 1.86 2.4 0.53 2.66
800-1000 3.6 5.46 1.26 6.06
1000-1200 6.33 8.4 2.06 9.46
1200-1400 6.4 10.33 2.06 11.26
1400-1600 4.6 3.8 1.33 8.6
1600-1800 2.8 3.26 0.66 4.4
C.D. @ 5% 3.858 3.911 0.64 3.844

Table 2 : Activity-wise mean number of forager bees (no./5 min) at different timings of the day during winter season (October- December).
Mean number of foragers involved
in the activity of Total number of
Time of the day outgoing bees
Pollen collector bees Nectar collector bees Debris removal bees
600-800 1.53 2.4 0.4 3.26
800-1000 4.66 7.26 2.2 7.26
1000-1200 9.2 11.06 1.93 10.66
1200-1400 7.33 10.73 1.73 10.73
1400-1600 5.93 7.93 1.26 9.53
1600-1800 3.6 4 0.4 4.93
C.D. @ 5 % 3.324 3.344 0.964 3.164

800-1000 hrs, followed by 1000-1200 hrs(1.93 bees/5 min)
and 1200-1400 hrs (1.73 bees/5 min). The minimum
number of bees was involved in this activity at 600-800
hrs and at 1600-1800 hr (0.40 bees/ 5 min at both timings).
The total number of bees moving out of the hive was
lowest at 600-800 hrs (3.26 bees/ 5 min) and then
onwards it increased to 7.26 bees per five minutes at
800-1000 hr; 10.66 bees per five minutes at 1000-1200
hr and reached the highest number of 10.73 bees per
five minutes at 1200-1400 hrs. From 1400-1600 hours
there was a decline in the activity with minimum bees of
9.53 and 4.93 bees per five minutes at 1400-1600 hr and
1600-1800 hr, respectively (Table 2 and Fig. 2).
Foraging activity during the summer season
There was a statically significant difference between
the number of pollen collectors, nectar collectors, debris
removing and the total number of outgoing bees at
different hours of the day. The number of pollen collectors
ranged from the lowest of 0.80 bees per five min at 600-
800 hr to the highest of 11.33 bees per five min at 1200-
1400 hrs. The activity began with the lowest number of
bees (0.80 per 5 min) at 600-800 hrs and gradually
increased to 5.80 bees per five min at 800-1000 hrs and
9.46 bees per five min at 1000-1200 hr. At 1400-1600 hr
and 1600-1800 hr, the number of pollen collectors observed
was 5.53 and 4.46 bees for five minutes, respectively.
Similarly, the number of nectar collectors was also
lowest (2.33 bees per 5 min) at 600-800 hrs and increased
to 8.86 bees per five minutes at 1000-1200 hr; 11.40 bees
per five min at 1200-1400 hr and reached the highest of
13.46 bees per five minutes at 1200-1400 hr. From 1400-
1600 hr bees’ activity began to decline and reached the
level of 7.13 and 4.53 bees for five min at 1400-1600 and
1600-1800 hr, respectively.
The highest number (2.53/ 5 min) of bees involved in
debris removal was observed at 1200-1400 hr, followed
by 1000-1200 hr (2.33/5 min) and 800-1000 hr (1.60/5
min). The activity was lowest at 600-1000 hrs (0.13 bees/
5 min) followed by 1600-1800 hr (0.46/ 5 min) and at
1400-1600 bees (0.86/ 5 min). The mean number of total
outgoing bees during the summer season was 9.05 with
minimum activity between 1200-1400 hours (14.46 bees/
5 min) followed by between 1000-1200 hr (12.46 bees/5
min). The number of outgoing bees was statistically on
par at 1000-1200 and 1200-1400 hours as well as at 8000-
1000 hr (10.46/5 min) and 1400-1600 hrs (7.86/ 5 min).
It was lowest at 600-800 hours (3.26 bees/ 5 min)
followed by 1600-1800 hrs (5.80 bees/ 5 min) (Table 3
and Fig. 3).
In the present investigation, the tendency of the
number of bees involved in various activities remained
the same across the seasons and also the same trend of
a lesser number of bees involved in different activities in
 Evaluation of ecological engineering approaches for the management of gall formers in chilli 465

Fig. 3 : Graphical representation of the activity of the foragers of Stingless Bees during the month of Jan to March.

Table 3 : Activity-wise mean number of forager bees (no./5 min) at different timings of the day during summer season (January-March).
Mean number of foragers involved
in the activity of Total number of
Time of the day outgoing bees
Pollen collector bees Nectar collector bees Debris removal bees
600-800 0.8 2.33 0.13 3.26
800-1000 5.8 8.86 1.6 10.46
1000-1200 9.46 11.4 2.33 12.46
1200-1400 11.33 13.46 2.53 14.46
1400-1600 5.53 7.13 0.86 7.86
1600-1800 4.46 4.53 0.46 5.8
C.D. @ 5 % 4.939 5.553 1.353 5.35

Table 4 : Correlation between The weather parameters and number of bees involved in daily activities.

Weather Parameters Bees activity

(Monthly mean) Pollen carriers Nectar carriers Debris removal Outgoing bees
Temperature 0.718 0.307 0.288 0.476
RH (%) -0.475 -0.531 -0.064 -0.531
Rainfall -0.492 -0.535 -0.056 -0.528

the morning hours; gradually increasing towards noon and
then onward declining and reaching to lowest by evening
was observed in all the season. Devanesan et al (2002)
recorded two peak activities of T. iridipennis at 1200
and 1500 hr from Kerala. Similarly, Roopa (2002) recorded
two peaks of outgoing bees during 1200 to 1300 and 1600
to 1700 hr, pollen foragers during 1000 to 1100 and 1300
to 1400 and nectar foragers during 1300 to 1400 and 1500
to 1600 hr at Bengaluru. Danaraddi (2007) recorded the
higher activity of outgoing bees during the months of
October and November, while that of the pollen foragers
was noticed in February. Similarly in October, November
and February to May higher activity of incoming bees
without the pollen (Nectar collector) was recorded at
Dharwad. Kencharaddi et al (2012) reported that the
honey bee visitation to the sunflower field was unaffected
by seeds treated with insecticides and storage period of
six months before sowing with peak activity between 10-
11 am and 3-4 pm. The variation in the present
investigation compared to the findings of the above
workers may be attributed to the difference in site-specific
conditions, live forage resources, prevailing weather
conditions and the seasons of observation.
Studies on the correlation between the prevailing
mean monthly weather factors and the number of bees
involved in different activities recorded a significant
correlation. The mean monthly temperature showed a
466
positive correlation with the number of bees involved in
pollen collection (+0.718), nectar collection (+0.307),
debris removal (+0.288) and the total number of outgoing
bees (+0.476). However, the relative humidity and rainfall
showed a significant negative correlation with the number
of bees involved in all these activities (Table 4). Similar
results were also obtained by Kleinert-Giovannini and
Imperatriz-Fonseca (1986), Heard and Hendrikz (1993),
and Kajobe and Echazarreta (2005) wherein they
recorded the increased activities of bees with the increase
in temperature and the corresponding decline in the
activity with an increase in relative humidity. This
relationship may be of the fact that on clear sunny days
with increased temperature, bees may visit and collect
the forage very actively and frequently. The rain and
increased humidity may result in reduced activity of bees.
CONCLUSION
The present investigation implied whatthe stingless
bee activity remained the same all throughout the season
and across the seasons, with similar trends. Irrespective
of the season, they are collecting pollen and nectar with
the same tempo and vigour, which can be considered as
indirect evidence of forage availability throughout the year
and perhaps this may be one of the reasons for their
success and survival under different habitats with minimal
or no absconding tendency.
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Description :
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