Journal of FARM SCIENCES, Vol 28, No 1 (2015)

Font Size:  Small  Medium  Large

Comparative studies on the pollinator fauna and foraging activity of honey bees on Bt and non-Bt cotton hybrids

Vinayak Pise, Shashidhar Viraktamath

Abstract


Comparative studies on the pollinator fauna and foraging activity of honey bees were made on Bt (NCS-145) and non-Bt (DHH-11) cotton genotypes during kharif, 2010 at Dharwad, Karnataka. Eighteen species of pollinators were found foraging on Bt and non-Bt cotton blossoms. Of these, nine species belonged to the order Hymenoptera, eight to Lepidoptera and one to Diptera. Among Hymenoptera, Apis dorsata F. was the most dominant with a relative abundance of 29.83 per cent followed by Apis cerana F. (25.21%) and Apis florea F. (22.54%). The remaining pollinators constituted 22.42 per cent. Foraging activity of honey bees was seen throughout the day with peak activity at 12.00 h and throughout the flowering period in both Bt and non-Bt cotton hybrids. However, there was no significant difference among Bt and non-Bt cotton hybrids with respect to foraging activity of honey bees.

Full Text: PDF