* Corresponding Author
Daily Activity and Honey Production Patterns of Tetragonula laeviceps Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae) During the Wet and Dry Seasons
https://doi.org/10.22146/jtbb.84083 Andi Gita Maulidyah Indraswari Suhri(1), Bambang Retnoaji(2*), Yusdar Mustamin(3), Sih Kahono(4)
(1) Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Hasanuddin University, Makassar City, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, 90245.
(2) Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Teknika Selatan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 55281.
(3) Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-Ku, Sendai, Japan, 980-8588.
(4) Research Center for Applied Zoology, National Research, and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, 16911.
(*) Corresponding Author
Abstract
Honey production by stingless bees is closely related to the foraging activities of worker bees, particularly nectar foraging. The urgency of this study stems from the community's need for adequate understanding and information on honey production which can vary due to various factors, such as forage and season. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which foraging activity affects the amount of honey produced by T. laeviceps during the rainy and dry seasons. The focal sampling method was used to observe foraging behaviour and the acetolysis method was used to observe pollen. The abiotic factors were measured through direct observation. Honey production was observed as a result of foraging behaviour and variations in abiotic factors. In SPSS v27 software, data from foraging behaviour observations were analysed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's test with 95% confidence level and interpreted in tables and figures. Multiple linear regressions and Pearson’s correlations were used to test the relationship between abiotic variables and bee return to hive behaviour. All honey volume data were collected, averaged, and evaluated using bar charts. Based on these results, the amount of honey produced by T. laevicepsin the dry season was significantly higher than that produced during the wet season. This was because the number of bees actively foraging was also higher in the dry season (June-August) which was strongly influenced by temperature and light intensity (p > 0.05). In addition, the number of flowering plants available for harvest during the dry season was higher than that during the rainy season. The results of this study can be used as a reference by beekeepers to determine the appropriate time to harvest honey. Information on the types of forage plants identified in this study can provide information on bee preferences in making choices related to forage plants.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abduh, M.Y. et al., 2020. Production of propolis and honey from Tetragonula laeviceps cultivated in Modular Tetragonula Hives. Heliyon, 6(11), e05405. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05405.
Abou-Shaara, H.F. et al., 2017. A review of impacts of temperature and relative humidity on various activities of honey bees. Insectes Sociaux, 64(4), pp.455–463. doi: 10.1007/s00040-017-0573-8.
Agussalim et al., 2017. Variation of Honeybees Forages As Source of Nectar and Pollen Based on Altitude in Yogyakarta. Buletin Peternakan, 41(4), pp.448-460. doi: 10.21059/buletinpeternak.v41i4.13593.
Agussalim et al., 2020. The honey and propolis production from Indonesian stingless bee: Tetragonula laeviceps. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 32, 121.
Agussalim et al., 2023. The Effect of Daily Activities Stingless Bees of Trigona sp. on Honey Production. The 7th International Seminar on Tropical Animal Production, pp.223-227.
Aldi, N. M., Yusuf, A. M. & Permana, A.D., 2023. Effects of meliponiculture Tetragonula laeviceps on pollinator diversity and visitation rate and citrus productivity in West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas, 24(10), pp.5757–5763. doi: 10.13057/biodiv/d241058.
APSA, 2017, ‘Australasian pollen and spore atlas’ in Australasian pollen and spore atlas, The Australian National University, viewed at 27 March 2023, from https://apsa.anu.edu.au/.
Azizi, M.G., Priawandiputra, W. & Raffiudin, R., 2020. Morphological identification of stingless bees from Belitung. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 457, 012011. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/457/1/012011.
Biesmeijer, J. C. & Slaa, E. J., 2004. Information flow and organization of stingless bee foraging. Apidologie, 35(2), pp.143–157. doi: 10.1051/apido:2004003.
Borchert, R. et. al., 2004. Environmental control of flowering periodicity in Costa Rican and Mexican tropical dry forests. Global ecology and Biogeography, 13(5), pp.409-425. doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-822X.2004.00111.x
Chuttong, B. et al., 2022. Foraging behavior and pollination efficiency of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) and stingless bees (Tetragonula laeviceps species complex) on mango (Mangifera indica L., cv. Nam Dokmai) in Northern Thailand. Journal of Ecology and Environment, 46(15), pp.1-7. doi: 10.5141/jee.22.012.
Erdtman, G., 1972. Pollen morphology and plant taxonomy: an introduction to palynology, Haffner publishing.
Fikru, S., 2015. Review of Honey Bee and Honey Production in Ethiopia. Journal of Animal Science Advances, 5(10), pp.1413-1421. doi: 10.5455/jasa.20151019083635.
Gadhiya, V. & Pastagia, J., 2019. Foraging behavior of stingless bees, Tetragonula laeviceps Smith in net house condition. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 7(6), pp.1005–1009.
Heard, T. A. & Hendrikz, J. K., 1993. Factors influencing flight activity of colonies of the stingless bee trigona carbonaria (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 41(4), pp.317–323. doi: 10.1071/ZO9930343.
Hoover, S.E. & Ovinge, L. P., 2018. Pollen collection, honey production, and pollination services: Managing honey bees in an agricultural setting. Journal of Economic Entomology, 111(4), pp.1509–1516. doi: 10.1093/jee/toy125.
Huang, T.C., 1972. Pollen flora of Taiwan, National Taiwan University, Botany Department Press.
Khurana, E. & Singh, J. S., 2001. Ecology of seed and seedling growth for conservation and restoration of tropical dry forest : A review. Environmental Conservation, 28(1), pp.39–52. doi: 10.1017/S0376892901000042.
Martin, P. & Bateson, P., 1986. Measuring behaviour: An introductory guide, Cambridge University Press.
McLaren, K. P. & McDonald, M. A., 2005. Seasonal patterns of flowering and fruiting in a dry tropical forest in Jamaica. Biotropica, 37(4), pp.584–590. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2005.00075.x.
Nunes-Silva, P. et al., 2010. Foraging activity in Plebeia remota, a stingless bees species, is influenced by the reproductive state of a colony. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 2010(1), 241204. doi: 10.1155/2010/241204.
Nunes-Silva, P. et al., 2013. The Behaviour of Bombus Impatiens (Apidae, Bombini) on Tomato (Lycopersicon Esculentum Mill., Solanaceae) Flowers: Pollination and Reward Perception. Journal of Pollination Ecology, 11, pp.33–40. doi: 10.26786/1920-7603(2013)3.
Polatto, L.P., Chaud-Netto, J. & Alves-Junior, V.V., 2014. Influence of Abiotic Factors and Floral Resource Availability on Daily Foraging Activity of Bees: Influence of Abiotic and Biotic Factors on Bees. Journal of Insect Behavior, 27(5), pp.593–612. doi: 10.1007/s10905-014-9452-6.
Puteri, G. et al., 2022. Foraging Activity of Tetragonula laeviceps Workers for Natural Resources and Nest Materials at a Polyculture Cropland in Batusangkar, Tanah Datar Regency, West Sumatra. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1059, 012086. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/1059/1/012086.
Riendriasari, S.D. & Rahayu, A.A.D., 2022. The Foraging preference of stingless beekeeping in three types of land use at Lombok Island. Jurnal Ilmu Kehutanan, 16(2), pp.159–170. doi: 10.22146/jik.v16i2.3908.
Sakagami, S.F., 1978. Instructions for use Tetragonula Stingless Bees of the Continental Asia and Sri Lanka (Hymenoptera , Apidae ) l ) 2 ). Journal of the Faculty of Science Hokkaido University, Zoology, 21(2), pp.165–247.
Salatnaya, H. et al., 2020. The Influence of Environmental Factors on the Activity and Propolis Production of Tetragonula laeviceps. Jurnal Ilmu Produksi dan Teknologi Hasil Peternakan, 8(2), pp.67–71. doi: 10.29244/jipthp.8.2.67-71.
Wallace, H. M. & Lee, D. J., 2010. Resin-foraging by colonies of Trigona sapiens and T. hockingsi (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini) and consequent seed dispersal of Corymbia torelliana (Myrtaceae). Apidologie, 41(4), pp.428–435. doi: 10.1051/apido/2009074.
Westphal, C., Steffan-Dewenter, I. & Tscharntke, T. 2006. Foraging trip duration of bumblebees in relation to landscape-wide resource availability. Ecological Entomology, 31, pp.389–394.
Wijesinghe, S. A. E. C. et al., 2020. A global review of watermelon pollination biology and ecology: The increasing importance of seedless cultivars. Scientia Horticulturae, 271. doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2020.109493.
Woods, W.A., Heinrich, B. & Stevenson, R. D., 2005. Honeybee flight metabolic rate: Does it depend upon air temperature? Journal of Experimental Biology 208(6), pp.1161–1173. doi: 10.1242/jeb.01510.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/jtbb.84083
Article Metrics
Abstract views : 656
| 
views : 444
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Tropical Biodiversity and Biotechnology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Editoral address:
Faculty of Biology, UGM
Jl. Teknika Selatan, Sekip Utara, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia
ISSN: 2540-9581 (online)