Survey on absconding of Apis cerana indica F. colonies at different traditional beekeeping areas of Karnataka

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1 Research Communication Survey on absconding of Apis cerana indica F. colonies at different traditional beekeeping areas of Karnataka S. D. Pradeepa* and N. S. Bhat Department of Apiculture, College of Agriculture, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore , Karnataka, India * Indian honey bee, Apis cerana F., is the base of Indian bee keeping and is distributed throughout India. This species is present in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indo-China, Philippines, China, USSR, Japan and Indonesia. It thrives up to 2500 m above sea level and has many valuable characters of biological and economic importance. These include their docile and industrious nature, less prone to attack of parasite, mite and nosema diseases. However, the disadvantage with this species is frequent swarming, absconding, the tendency to rob, production of laying workers and lower honey yield and susceptibility to Thai sac brood virus. Absconding can be defined as abandoning of a nest by a colony which forms a swarm and presumably re-establishes itself elsewhere. Absconding swarms differ from reproductive swarms in that few or no workers and no adult or viable immature queens are left behind in the original colony. Absconding is generally either disturbance induced or resource induced. Disturbanceinduced absconding due to disturbance usually results from partial or total disturbance of colonies by predators, destruction of comb by wax moths, heavy wasp or bird predation at the nest entrance, rain entering the nest and the like. Resourceinduced absconding seems to result from a scarcity of nectar, pollen, or water and occurs primarily during the dearth season in the tropical habitats. Tropical bee colonies period when there is relatively little flowering and absconding occurs presumably to search for areas with better resources (Mark, 1987; Fletcher, 1975; Punchhihewa, 1994; Koeniger and Koeniger, 1980). So, a study has been taken up to understand the factors responsible for absconding of A. cerana in Karnataka, South India. The survey on the prevalence of absconding of A. cerana F. colonies was carried out in the traditional beekeeping areas of the following districts i.e. Coorg, Shimoga, Dakshin Kannada, Uttar Kannada and Bangalore in Karnataka, India. The sample size varied depending upon the area that was studied. The sample size ranged from 5 to 15 based on the purposive sampling and number of bee keepers in the sampled area. The survey on prevalence of absconding was carried out during The information was collected as shown below. Collected data were tabulated using EXCEL software and necessary tables were prepared. Beekeeper s interview: A questionnaire was developed and used for collecting necessary information from the beekeepers to find the prevalence of absconding in a given area. The information was sought on the following areas. frequently abscond during these dearth 174

2 Information regarding bee colonies i.e. (type of strain and number of colonies maintained by beekeeper during peak and dearth season). Tendency of absconding. Reasons for absconding. Beekeeping management practices adopted by the beekeepers to manage the absconding i.e. (seasonal management of pest and diseases, pasture management). A general survey of 40 beekeepers was accomplished in to know gravity of problems pertaining to absconding and how beekeepers have tried to manage it. The background information on status of apiculture was also included. The survey area included 5 districts of Karnataka viz., Coorg, Shimoga, Uttar Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Bangalore rural (Fig. 1). The survey on absconding was carried out in the 40 apiaries situated in 5 districts of Karnataka viz., Coorg, Shimoga, Dakshina Kannada, Uttar Kannada and Bangalore Rural (Table 1). The absconding phenomenon was common annual feature in all these apiaries. However, the absconding was more prevalent in Banhgalore Rural region which was to the extent of per cent followed by Dakshina Kannada (46.15 per cent), Shimoga (41.86 per cent), and Coorg (37.66 per cent). The lowest percent of absconding was found in Uttar Kannada (1.84 per cent). The likely factors that might have caused absconding of the colonies were categorized into: shortage of bee pasture, disturbance to colony, and incidence of pests and diseases. In all the districts surveyed wax moth menace was prevalent and per cent of beekeepers attributed absconding to wax moth (Gallaria mellonella) infestation. The scarcity of bee forage was observed in 70.0 per cent of apiaries some time during the annual cycle which could be the second major factor attributed to absconding as opined by beekeepers of various districts. The wasp menace also contributed to absconding in per cent of apiaries, followed by birds (42.0 per cent) viz: green bee eater (M. orientalis) and common crow (D. macrocercus) and pollen shortage (27.50 per cent). Surprisingly, disease prevalence (TSBV) was noticed only in 5% of apiaries hence it was the least affecting factor for absconding (Table 2). The occurrence of wax moth infestation in the colonies of Malnad region commenced during rainy season owing to decline in the population of the colony and eventually resulted in exposure of combs to wax moth infestation. The causes of absconding due to wax moth incidence was also reported by Pokhrel et al. (2006) in the mountain apiaries of Nepal and also by Mohapatra et al. (2008) in the coastal Orissa during raining season. Generally, honey flow ceases before the rainy season and bees fail to forage nectar due to incessant rains and therefore the population begins to dwindle. Also, the beekeepers do not leave sufficient honey store in the colony for maintaining through rainy season. Nectar deficiency was also main factor for absconding of colonies as reported by pokhrel (2008) in the Hills and Terai region of Chitwan and same as reported by Hepburn (2011). Further, the available nectar during rainy season was diluted owing to rain. As a result bees often failed to collect nectar from flowers. The condition of colony becomes delicate and they fail to effectively defend the attack by pest such as wasp in particular and ants, birds in general. Hence, colonies tend to abscond. The wasps, which are insectivorous and prefer predating on bees next only to 175

3 other insect larvae available in nature attack honey bees, when the availability of major host declines. The wasps catch bees and even enter into hives destroying bee larvae thus causing severe disturbance to bee colony. Wasp as a serious pest of honey bees has been reported by Ranabhat and Tamrakar (2008) in southern belt of Kaska district of Nepal. They reported three important speices of the wasp predating honey bees, viz., Vespa velutina,. bicolor, V. tropica and V. basalis. Abrol (2009) reported a loss of per cent bee colonies in the month of dry season (July to October) due to the attack of wasps. The apiaries in the districts of Uttar Kannada faced least amount of absconding compare to other districts; this may be attributed to several good management practices adopted in the area. They includedmigration of bee colonies during rainy season, placement of bait for the control of wax moth and ants, removal of old combs, strengthening of colonies by uniting, and also leaving honey store in the colony for dearth period. Highest absconding occurred in Bangalore Rural, which is attributed to severe shortage of flora during summer months. The colonies did not develop despite feeding of colonies with sugar syrup. Problem of ant (Componotus pennsylvanicus) menace was most common in Bangalore district particularly during summer /rainy season and is an important factor causing absconding. CONCLUSION Among the surveyed five districts in Karnataka, the percentage of absconding was more in Bangalore Rural followed by Dakshin Kannada, Shimoga and Coorg. But lowest percent of absconding was found in Uttar Kannada. Considering factors responsible for absconding of apiaries, wax moth incidence was observed to be foremost with per cent of apiaries attacked. This was followed by scarcity of nectar and wasp menace to the tune of 70 and per cent of apiaries, respectively. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The authors are very much thankful to the All India Coordinated Research Project on Honeybees and Pollinators for providing the research facilities and financial assistance. Table 1: Prevalence of absconding of Apis cerana in different districts of Karnataka District No. of Apiaries No. of colonies No. of colonies Absconded Per cent absconding Coorg Shimoga Uttar Kannada Dakshina Kannada Bangalore Rural *5 Apiaries each in Coorg, Dakshina Kannada, Bangalore Rural, **10 Apiaries in Shimoga, ***15 Apiaries in Uttar Kannada 176

4 Table 2: Per cent occurrence of pests and diseases in different apiaries of 5 district of Karnataka Bird Reason's for Absconding Coorg Shimoga Uttar Kannada Dakshina Kannada Bangalore Rural Total Green bee-eater King crow Pest Wasp Wax Moth Disease TSBV Scarcity Nectar Pollen Others Figures are in percentages; *5 Apiaries each in Coorg, Dakshina Kannada, Bangalore Rural, **10 Apiaries in Shimoga, ***15 Apiaries in Uttar Kannada Uttar Kannada 2. Shimoga 3. Dakshin Kannada 4. Bangalore Rural 5. Coorg Fig. 1: Map showing the districts of study area 177

5 REFERENCES Abrol, D. P Honeybee diseases and their management: Insect enemies. Kalyani publisher: 224 & 263. Fletcher, D. J. C New perspectives in the causes of absconding in the African bee (Apis mellifera). S. Afr. Bee J., 47: Hepburn, H. R Absconding, migration and swarming. Biomedical and Life Sciences Honeybees of Asia, Koeniger, N. and Koeniger, G Observations and experiments on migration and dance communication of Apis dorsata in Sri Lanka. J. Apic. Res., 19(1): Mark L. Winston The biology of the honey bee. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mohapatra, L. N., Patnaik, H. P. and Satpathy, C. R Studies on the brood rearing trends and causes of absconding in Asian hive bee, Apis cerana indica F. under coastal Orissa conditions. Indian J.Ent., 70(4): Pokhrel, S The ecological problems and possible solutions of beekeeping in Hills and Terai of Chitwan, Nepal. J. Agri. Envi., 9: Pokhrel, S., Thapa, R.B., Neupane, F. P. and Shrestha, S. M., 2006, Absconding behavior and management of Apis cerana F. honeybee in Chitwan, Nepal. J. Inst. Agric. Anim. Sci., 27: Punchiewa, R.W.K., 1994, Beekeeping for honey production in Sri Lanka: Management of Asiatic hive honeybee Apis cerana in its natural tropical monsoonal environment. Srilanka Department of Agriculture, 149. Ranabhat, N. B. and Tamrakar, A. S., 2008, Study on seasonal activity of predatory wasps attacking honeybee Apis cerana F. Colonies in southern belt of Kaski district, Nepal. J. Nat. Hist. Mus., 23: [MS received 12 July 2014; MS accepted 29 August 2014] Disclaimer: Statements, information, scientific names, spellings, inferences, products, style, etc. mentioned in Current Biotica are attributed to the authors and do in no way imply endorsement/concurrence by Current Biotica. Queries related to articles should be directed to authors and not to editorial board