Studies on the efficacy of various flours as pollen substitutes and availability of pollen resources for the honey bees Apis mellifera L.
| dc.contributor.advisor | Srivastava, Poonam | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mohammad Yasin | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-06-10T07:18:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-06-10T07:18:33Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2009-08 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Studies on evaluation of various flours as pollen substitutes and availability of pollen resources for A. mellifera honey bees were conducted at G. B. P. U. A. & T. Pantnagar during 2008-09. Seven flours were taken viz. Arhar, Maize, Rice, Wheat, Soyabeen, Bajra and Gram as pollen substitutes for A. mellifera. All the flours were mixed with honey and dried yeast to make a total of 14 treatments (7 flours + honey and 7 flours + Dried yeast). Soyabean flour + honey and Bajra + dried yeast treatments were found to be best in reference to visitation of bees and weight loss in flours due to foraging by bees. Arhar + honey and Rice + dried yeast combination were found to be least preferred pollen substitute for A. mellifera. Microscopic analysis of pollen samples was carried out by preparing pollen slides from comb cells and reference slides from flowers of various groups of plants at Pantnagar and surrounding area. On the basis of analysis of pollen samples collected from A. mellifera colonies during different months of the year, a total of 45 pollen resources were available for the bees. Among these, A. mellifera preferred to forage on Mustard followed by Broccoli, Arhar and Bottlebrush flowers. Mustard pollen was available for the longest period from November to March. Availability of Broccoli pollen was observed during September to January, Arhar pollen from November to February and Bottle brush pollen in the months of October, November and April. Analysis of honey was also carried out to identify the pollen sources for honey bee colonies in a particular locality. In honey sample analysis Mustard pollen was present in all honey samples followed by Rose and Gurhal. Mustard pollen was found during February to April while Rose and Gurhal pollen were found in the months of February and March. Among the other physical properties, colour of extracted honey varied from white to golden to amber (optical density 0.105 to 1.009). The mean moisture content was measured as 19.00 per cent in different honey samples. The mean refractive index of the extracted honey was 1.4760. The mean specific gravity of honey was 1.3720. The mean pollen density of honey was 43333 pollens/g. The mean optical density of 20 percent honey solution of honey was 0.44. The mean pH of extracted honey was 4.18. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810147375 | |
| dc.keywords | flours, pollen, substitutes, natural resources, honey bees, Apis mellifera | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.pages | 118 | en_US |
| dc.publisher | G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand) | en_US |
| dc.research.problem | Honey Bees | en_US |
| dc.sub | Entomology | en_US |
| dc.theme | Apiculture | en_US |
| dc.these.type | M.Sc | en_US |
| dc.title | Studies on the efficacy of various flours as pollen substitutes and availability of pollen resources for the honey bees Apis mellifera L. | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |