FORAGING PATTERN OF APIS CERANA INDICA FAB DURING DIFFERENT SEASONS IN COASTAL BELT OF CUDDALORE, TAMILNADU, INDIA

Foraging bees collect pollen and nectar from various floral resources to fulfil their nutritional requirements. Forging activity of bees change for every one hour, based on floral sources available, their colony requirement and weather parameters. In a calendar year, maximum number of bees i.e., 36.38 to 41.57, forage from February to May due to the presence of better floral sources, and minimum during November and December (20.33 and 25.05) because of heavy rainfall and scarcity of floral sources in coastal belt of Chidambaram, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. This paper deals with the foraging activity of bees during different months in a year and possible reasons for such changes in foraging which might be helpful for the coastal beekeepers to know about the honey flow and dearth periods and plan their activities either for sustaining or shifting colonies without losing for a successful apiculture.