Khan, M.S.Gaurava Kumar2021-07-102021-07-102021-02https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810170345The investigation entitled “Studies on colony multiplication and standardization of hives for the stingless bee, Tetragonula iridipennis Smith” was carried out at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar during July 2016 to July 2020 to study the nesting distribution pattern of these bees in natural habitat, colony multiplication methods in vivo and in vitro and evaluation of six newly designed stingless bee hives for commercial meliponiculture. A total of 86 natural colonies (48 arboreal; 38 terrestrial) were recorded variably distributed in the study area. Among the nester six tree species identified, Lagerstroemia indica sheltered maximum colonies (n= 20). The arboreal colonies, nested at a mean height of 10.07± 7.81ft (range: 0.9- 12.0ft), while terrestrials nested between 1.0 to 35.0 ft (mean: 14.26 ±8.27 ft). Establishment of a new colony through natural swarm process, recorded first time for this species, took17 days with swarm occurring on 9th day and after surmounting the intercolonial aggression. Among the four methods of colony multiplication evaluated in this study, two methods namely „by introduction of gyne bee‟ and „by introduction of royal brood cell‟ were found successful with a survival probability of newly established colony being 0.77 and 0.38, respectively. Facultative ovipositional diapause in the queen bee heading a new colony occurred during winter season. The in vitro mass queen rearing technique developed in this study is the new record for this species. The optimum amount of larval provision required to raise an in vitro queen bee was 18 μL. The survival probability for grafted larvae (destined queen bees) achieved in the in vitro rearing was 0.725 ±0.085 and the mean development time for emergence after grafting was 32.42±1.65 days. Rearing wells of bee wax having 4x8 mm size resulted in highest emergence (87.5%) and the six days old larvae used for grafting produced maximum queen bees (85.2%). The in vitro queens evaluated for their reproductive fitness were able to successfully establish a new colony in wooden hives. Evaluation studies of six differently designed wooden hives demonstrated successful use of a hive with insulated multi layers provided with a super chamber (SH). The other hives including single thick wall, one chamber (STW), single thick wall, double chamber (GH) and insulated two thin layered hive (DLTW) also performed significantly better with 346.80, 329.12 and 217.60gm honey produced, respectively. The outcomes of present study are of significant value and will prove a milestone in uplifting and advancement of Meliponiculture in the country.EnglishThesis