Foraging behaviour is one of the distinctive behaviours of honey bees, Apis mellifera. This behaviour is the link between the honey bee colony and the ambient environment. Therefore, various in-colony and out-colony factors have an impact on this behaviour, and many studies have been employed to investigate these factors. Foraging behaviour is not advantageous only for the colony and for plant pollination but also has other benefits. In contrast, some disadvantages have also been discovered to be linked with foraging activity. Practically speaking, the control over this behaviour is very important to maximize colony products as well as to increase other agricultural benefits. This paper presents a review on foraging activity including; the regulation of foraging tasks, factors impacting this behaviour, foraging preference, variations between subspecies, monitoring methods as well as the possible methods for controlling this behaviour. As concluded from this review, more work needs to be performed in order to elucidate certain aspects of foraging behaviour.

The foraging behaviour of honey bees, Apis mellifera: a review.

The honey bee Apis mellifera is a social insect domesticated for honey production and pollination activit ies. Studies were carried out to investigate and compare the nutritive and chemical constituents of honey samples of the feral and artificially reared honeybees fro m the guinea and derived savannah geo-ecological zones of Kwara state, Nigeria. The result revealed that the honey sample produced by the feral bees in both eco -zones had higher concentration of sugars (dextrose, fructose, sucrose) while honey sample fro m the art ificial modern bee-keeping method had significantly higher concentration of minerals (Mg 2+ , Fe 2+ , K + ) than two other methods. However, honey samples fro m the derived savannah recorded significantly higher conce n- tration of minerals, p rotein and sugars. The honey samples fro m modern beekeeping methods and from derived savannah ec o- logical zone should be promoted and be enhanced for commercial production. The level o f heavy metals in honey in the market should be monitored so as to prevent the bioaccumulation of harmful ions with in human body.

Comparative Proximate and Chemical Analysis of Feral and Arti- ficially Reared Bee Honey Samples from Two Ecological Zones in Nigeria

Outgoing flight from hives was used to evaluate the effects of confining colonies of honey bees, Apis mellifera L., with wet burlap up to 48 hours under high temperatures (daily maxima mean, 114°F) and low humidities (daily minima mean, 13% RH). On the 1st day after release, 3 groups of 4 colonies confined 24 hours had 102 103, and 149%, respectively, of the calculated expected daily flight. A decline to 78. 89, and 117% was noted on the 2nd day. Similar groups confined 48 hours had 118, 87, and 154% of the expected flight on the 1st day, but were not observed on the 2nd day. Colonies apparently can be confined safely for 48 hours.

https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-pdf/60/3/681/19215581/jee60-0681.pdf

Flight Activity of Honey Bee Colonies After Confinement Under High-Temperature Conditions

The foraging behaviour of honey bees, Apis mellifera

This study was carried out to determine the effect on honey production and population growth of foraging worker bees when the non-foraging and foraging worker bees Apis mellifera adansoni L were fed with banana paste and when foraging bees were converted to nonforagers by inducing undertaker and nursing care behaviour in apiaries set up in the Teaching and Research Farm of Obafemi Awolowo University , Ile-Ife from December 2006 to February, 2008. Four apiaries were set up and three 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 colonized hives were selected from each apiary and labelled A ,A , A , B ,B , B ,C , C and C and D , 2 3 1 2 3 D and D constituted as control hives. Bee colonies in hives A ,A and A were fed with banana 1 2 3 paste, nursing care function was induced in hives B ,B and B and undertaker duty was induced in hives 1 2 3 C ,C and C . The census of the foraging worker bees in all hives were carried out at intervals of 70 1 2 3 ±5 days using the Capture-mark and recapture method (Lincoln’s index). In colonies A ,A and A , the 1 2 3 mean foragers population was 9,324 ± 256 and the honey yield was 16.24 ± 0.54 kg, in B ,B and B 1 2 the mean foragers population was 6,714 ± 256 and honey yield was 6.03 ± 0.29 kg while in C , C and 3, C the foragers population was 5,466 ± 256 and the honey yield was 7.02 ± 0.29 kg. In the control hives the mean population of foraging workers was 8,670 ± 256 and honey yield was 13.13 ± 0.14 kg. There were significant differences between the means of population of foraging worker bees (F =1028.50, df = 11, P < 0.005) and honey produced (F = 238.82, df = 11, P < 0.005). There is no significant correlation between the weights of combs produced and foragers population.

Effect of artificial modification of the feeding activity of non-foraging and foraging worker bees (Apis mellifera adansoni L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on honey and comb production.

M. A. Badejo

Papers

Effect of artificial modification of the feeding activity of non-foraging and foraging worker bees (Apis mellifera adansoni L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on honey and comb production.