Nest architecture of stingless bees Tetragonula iridipennis and Lepidotrigona ventralis in Nagaland Chauhan Avinash#, Singh H.K. Department of Entomology, School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural Development Nagaland University, Medziphema, Nagaland #Email: avi_shimla@hotmail.com
Online published on 24 October, 2019. Abstract Stingless bees are important pollinators and from India, eight species have been reported so far. Out of them, four species viz., Tetragonula iridipennis, Lepidotrigona ventralis, Tetragonula laeviceps and Lophotrigona canifrons are commonly present in the northeast, especially in Nagaland. Tetragonula iridipennis and Lepidotrigona ventralis are the dominant. Keeping in view the problems faced by the large number of beekeepers in the state, the present study explores the nest architecture of T. iridipennis and L. ventralis so that new hives could be designed for efficiency under protected conditions. Surveys were conducted in the forest and village areas of Dimapur district. A total of 15 colonies were located and reestablished in the department Apiary. The activity of the bees at the nest entrance was observed fortnightly. Five colonies of each species were dissected to know the colony architecture. The results revealed that size of the brood cells (queen, male and worker) in T. iridipennis was smaller as compared to L. ventralis. The pollen and honey cells in L. ventralis were bigger than T. iridipennis. The internal architecture of the nest was different: in T. iridipennis brood was not covered fully with involucrum while L. ventralis was covered in the involucrum connected with honey and pollen pots with tunnels supported by cerumen and resin pillars. Size of queen, drone and worker were also measured. Top Keywords Stingless bees, nest architecture, Tetragonula iridipennis, Lepidotrigona ventralis, dimensions, castes, size, queen, drone, worker. Top |