<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Stingless bees constitute an important group of bee diversity providing a vital ecological service i.e. pollination. From India, nine species of stingless bees have been reported out of which <italic>Tetragonula iridipennis</italic> Smith is widely distributed. Studies revealed that the majority (86.67%) of these bees’ nests were present in brick walls and the remaining (13.33%) were in cavities of hollow tree trunks. Most of the colonies nested at a height of 3.50 m from the ground. Most of the nests (56.67%) had entrances oriented to the east. No distinct entrance tube was observed in 26.92 per cent of the colonies. Overall average entrance tube dimensions (longer side diameter × shorter side diameter × tube length) were 11.62 × 11.73 × 14.04 mm. In all the nests, brood area was surrounded by pollen pots and a few honey pots. The mean dimensions (depth × width) of brood cells, honey pots and pollen pots were 2.79 × 2.62 mm, 5.33 × 4.52 mm and 6.93 × 5.19 mm, respectively. All of the sixty colonies whether in brick/stone walls or in hollow tree trunks overwintered successfully. Our results can be useful for developing conservation measures for <italic>T. iridipennis</italic> and its augmentation for crop pollination.</p>
</abstract>

Stingless bees constitute an important group of bee diversity providing a vital ecological service i.e. pollination. From India, nine species of stingless bees have been reported out of which Tetragonula iridipennis Smith is widely distributed. Studies revealed that the majority (86.67%) of these bees’ nests were present in brick walls and the remaining (13.33%) were in cavities of hollow tree trunks. Most of the colonies nested at a height of 3.50 m from the ground. Most of the nests (56.67%) had entrances oriented to the east. No distinct entrance tube was observed in 26.92 per cent of the colonies. Overall average entrance tube dimensions (longer side diameter × shorter side diameter × tube length) were 11.62 × 11.73 × 14.04 mm. In all the nests, brood area was surrounded by pollen pots and a few honey pots. The mean dimensions (depth × width) of brood cells, honey pots and pollen pots were 2.79 × 2.62 mm, 5.33 × 4.52 mm and 6.93 × 5.19 mm, respectively. All of the sixty colonies whether in brick/stone walls or in hollow tree trunks overwintered successfully. Our results can be useful for developing conservation measures for T. iridipennis and its augmentation for crop pollination.

Nest Architecture and Nesting Site Preference of <italic>Tetragonula iridipennis</italic> Smith in North-Western Plains of India

Journal of Apicultural Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Nest Architecture and Nesting Site Preference of  Smith in North-Western Plains of India

Stingless bees constitute an important group of bee diversity providing a vital ecological service i.e. pollination. From India, nine species of stingless bees...

Character	Parameter (cm)	Mean size (cm) of different parameters in different colonies				Mean/range
Character	Parameter (cm)	Colony I	Colony II	Colony III	Colony IV	Mean/range
Colony size	Cavity length	89.0	70.0	33.0	17.9	52.5±18.9
Colony size	Cavity length	20.0	42.0	10.0	13.5	21.4±8.3
Pollen pots location	Cavity diameter	3.0–7.5	6.2–7.5	7.0–7.5	3.5	3.0–7.5
	Thickness of plant rind forming cavity	3.0–5.0	3.5–4.5	5.0–6.5	4.0–4.5	3.0–6.5
	Cavity length	47.0	9.2	6.0	4.4	16.7±11.8
Honey pots Location	Cavity diameter	3.0–4.0	5.5–6.0	7.2	4.8	3.0–7.2
	Thickness of plant rind forming cavity	4.5–7.5	3.5–4.0	6.0–7.0	3.5–4.0	3.5–7.5
	Cavity length	22.0	12.5	19.0	---	17.8±2.8
Brood cells location	Cavity diameter	4.0–6.0	5.0–10.0	7.5	---	4.0–10.0
Brood cells location	Thickness of plant rind forming cavity	6.0–6.5	6.0–7.5	6.0–8.0	---	6.0–8.0

Component of nest	Number observed (n)	Mean size (mm)*

		Length	Width
Brood cells size	10	2.79±0.06^a (2.57–3.16)	2.62± 0.04^a (2.42–2.79)
Honey pots size	10	5.33±0.09^b (4.97–5.89)	4.52±0.08^b (4.11–4.92)
Pollen pots size	13	6.93±0.40^c (4.73–9.73)	5.19±0.20^c (4.24–6.26)
Pillars	10	Height	2.83± 0.24 (2.21–4.69)
		Girth	0.91± 0.08 (0.70–1.47)
		Base	1.46±0.14 (0.76–2.18)
Voids	3		1.96±0.16 (1.01–3.14)

Nest Architecture and Nesting Site Preference of Tetragonula iridipennis Smith in North-Western Plains of India

Article Category: Original Article

Online veröffentlicht: 03. März 2021

Seitenbereich: 49 - 59

Eingereicht: 15. Apr. 2019

Akzeptiert: 20. Nov. 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jas-2021-0003

Schlüsselwörter
nest architecture, nesting site, stingless bee,

© 2021 Amit Choudhary et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Characteristics of Tetragonula iridipennis colonies in hollow tree trunks of mulberry

Dimensions of different components of nest constructed by Tetragonula iridipennis in hollow tree trunks of mulberry

Nest Architecture and Nesting Site Preference of Tetragonula iridipennis Smith in North-Western Plains of India

Article Category: Original Article

Online veröffentlicht: 03. März 2021

Seitenbereich: 49 - 59

Eingereicht: 15. Apr. 2019

Akzeptiert: 20. Nov. 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jas-2021-0003

Schlüsselwörternest architecture, nesting site, stingless bee,

© 2021 Amit Choudhary et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Characteristics of Tetragonula iridipennis colonies in hollow tree trunks of mulberry

Dimensions of different components of nest constructed by Tetragonula iridipennis in hollow tree trunks of mulberry

Schlüsselwörter
nest architecture, nesting site, stingless bee,