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The pollen foraging shows a collective approach by honeybees belonging to a colony which organize and carefully regulate it with the passage of time. The comparative amounts of larval brood and stored pollen in the hive closely correlated with the pollen requirement of a honeybee colony. Intercrop, diversity and average number of visiting pollinators contributed positively to the fruit weight and fruit quality. The flight activity of honey bees is greatly subjective to the weather and flow conditions along with the strength of colony and the number of foraging bees. Weather conditions usually depend on the wind intensity, air temperature and wind force. The situation of flow relies on diurnal flowering pattern, nectar and the pollen output alongside the combination of these aspects. The observation included following steps i.e. installing pollen traps at the entrance of the hive, recording number of pollen carrier bees returning to the hive, calculating quantity of bee pollen collected in the pollen trap trays and weighing the total weight of pollen collected by the hive, calculating the Visitation Rate (number of flowers visited by pollinators in one minute), Visitation Frequency (number of pollinators visit one plant per minute) and Pollinator Diversity ( different pollinators found during 5 minutes visit of field). Apis mellifera entering in the hives with pollens at the different time intervals of8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 1400 and 16:00 hours for five minutes. The highest number of bees entering in the hives were at 12:00 hours showing the average value of 73.2. The starting and ending time period i.e. 08:00, 10:00, 14:00 and 16:00 shows lower average value of 14.6, 30.3, 66.4 and 28.6 respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field experiment was conducted at apiary of University of Sargodha. The coordinates of apiary are 32º13´15.7ʺN, 72 º68´41.8ʺE. The apiary had 24 Langstroth standard colonies of Apis mellifera naturally infested with Varroa destructor. Ectoparasitic mite, V. destructor is considered the most important parasite of A. mellifera L. that badly affects the development and performance of bees. Main objective of our study was to assess the effectiveness of five synthetic acaricides (Bayvarol®, Apivar®, Apistan® Apitol® and Perizin®) against V. destructor in infested colonies of A. mellifera in Langstroth standard hives. Four hives were selected for each acaricide and one group of four hives was left untreated as control. As seen from results, all acaricides significantly reduced the infestation levels of varroa mite on adult honeybees and worker brood and the efficacy of Perizin® and Apistan® was high (91.3%±0.81 and 81.6%±1.2, respectively). Lowest mite mortality (52.3%±1.2) was recorded in Apitol® treatment. Overall, the data indicated that acaricides like Perizin® and Apistan® were highly effective against V. destructor and can be recommended for better management of this destructive pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollen collection by honeybees (Apis mellifera Linguistica) from Brassica campestris was examined during February - March 2015 at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad. Twenty five honeybee colonies were used which had similar number of worker bees, brood and stored food. In order to study the foraging activity of honeybees in the field condition, the number of pollen foragers returning to the hive entrance was recorded for 10 min duration on hourly basis between 0800 h to 1600 h for 3 days per week. The data was collected at 0800-1000 hours (early morning foraging activity), 1000-1200 hours (late morning foraging activity), 1200-1400 hours (Noon foraging activity) and 1400-1600 hours (afternoon foraging activity). The pollen collected in the pollen trap trays at regular intervals for a period of one month using pollen traps fitted at the entrance of the hives and left for a period of 8 h. The pollen loads were weighed fresh and preserved in the compact/air tight containers in the refrigerator. Our results showed maximum foraging ratio (59.88 ± 2.89) and pollen collection (145.8±8.79) during 1000-1200 hours followed by the duration of 1200-1400 hours when foraging ratio was 58.24 ± 3.03 and pollen collection was 134.4±5.49 and during 0800 - 1000 hours when foraging ratio was 48.36 ± 2.84 and pollen collection was 121.8±6.73, whereas, the lowest values were found during 1400-1600 hours when foraging ratio was 44.36 ± 3.36 and pollen collection was 117±3.77. It can be concluded that best time for pollen collection and foraging time for honeybee was 100-1200 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was carried out to determine the effects of screen bottom board trays on reducing ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman (Acari:Varroidae) populations in honeybee Apis mellifera linguistica (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies in the winter, spring and summer season (2013-14). Four honeybee colonies were exposed to oxalic acid (3.2%), thymol (0.5 g) and formic acid (65%) on screen bottom boards in winter, spring and summer seasons. The fourth group had screen bottom board trays but without any chemical. There was a trend of fallen mean number of mites 157±6.28, 97±3.81, 132.75±9.76 and 26±1.68 in winter, 160±20, 149±30, 161.75±18.5 and 27.5±1.04 in spring and 188.25±5.34, 196.25±5.48, 144.25±7.74 and 34.5±4.94 (Mean±SE) in summer, respectively. The average efficacy (%) of the four groups were 86±.58, 66.5±3.93, 75±7.04, 18.25± 10.25 in winter, 77±3.52, 76.75±30, 79±2, 18.25±0.75 in spring and 74.75±1.44, 65.75±1.11, 63±2.04, 18.25±1.11 in summer season, respectively. No queens were lost, and there was no adult honeybee mortality in any of the colonies during the experiment. It can be concluded that screen bottom board trays alone and with soft chemicals in all three seasons effectively control the Varroa mite and can be used without any side effect during all the three seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary food sources for honey bees in colonies are processed nectar and fermented pollen. However, there are relatively few blooming plants that provide full sustenance to the bees, and their impacts on the physiology of honey bees in Pakistan have not yet been assessed. Diet with meager nutritional contents can affect various physiological parameters like hypopharyngeal glands (HPGs) sizes, rectal weight contents (RWCs), food intake and longevity of worker bees which indirectly affects overall colony development and make it vulnerable to diseases and pests. This study was designed to investigate the impact of protein diets in the form of different pollen on some physiological parameters of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) from major plant sources serving as melliferous resources in the agro-climatic conditions of Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Results indicated Brassica napus L. as the most effective pollen diet which took the highest time for 50 % of individuals' mortality. B. napus L. also gave the highest increase of HPG size (278.47 µm) followed by Trifolium alaxandrinum L. Acacia modesta L., and Zea mays L., in comparison to sugar syrup (control) with 261.73, 237.49, 124.38 and 107.65 µm, respectively. Pollen intake followed a similar pattern, with B. napus having the highest levels (3.03 mg/bee/day), and bee bread (3.37 mg/bee/day), with an overall mean of 25.279. The overall mean for RWC demonstrates how easily the pollen diet may be digested. It was negatively correlated with the volume of rectal contents. When compared to pollen diets, honeybee workers given bee bread had the lowest overall mean (3.95 mg) for rectal contents, suggesting the greatest degree of digestibility. Diets from B. napus were taken and digested more quickly than those from A. modesta , Z. mays , and T. alaxandrinum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]