EVALUATION THE WORKER BEE BEHAVIOR OF Apis cerana javana FABR. IN COMMUNICATING THE PRESENCE OF FOOD SOURCES

• Main Author: NIM. S-2 418413, Nismah<br>
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/4429
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

</i><b>Abstract: </b><p align=\"justify\"><i> A colony of the local honey bee <u>Apis cerana javana</u> Fabr. was observed in order to study the worker bee behavior in communicating the presence of food sources. The colony was placed in a hive observation box at laboratory of Entomology at the Department of Biology, Bandung Institute of Technology. The observation box was designed according to the standard classroom model observation beehive (1981). In communicating the presence of food sources, the local honeybee performs two dance patterns. A \"round dance\" informs other bees of the presence of food sources close to the hive. A \"wagging dance\" indicates the presence of food located more than 15 metres away. The scout bee followed by three to five worker bees performs the dance in the hive. As a means communicating \"wagging dances\" also indicate the direction of the food sources to the sun\'s position. Food abundance is indicated by the duration of the dance. The number of waves formed during a straight run and the number of figure eights formed during a scout\'s \"wagging dance\" correlated negatively with distance away from the food source visited. <u>Brassica juncea</u> L., <u>Calliandra calothyrsus</u> Meissn., <u>Coreopsis grandiflora</u> Nutt., <u>Cucurbita moschata</u> Duch., <u>Lagerstroemia speciosa</u> Pers., <u>Foeniculum vulgare</u> Mill., <u>Leucaena glauca</u> Bth., <u>Persea americana</u> Mill., <u>Turnera ulmifolia</u> L., and <u>Zea mays</u> L., are plants which served as food sources for the honeybee during this study. The weight of pollen loads carried by a forager can be classifed into three categories: large (17.9±2.2 mg), medium (10.1±1.4 mg), and small (3.4± 1.0 mg). Nectar loads weighed an average of 29.7±5.9 mg, while the weight of a worker bee averaged 53.6±7.9 mg. The average temperature in the hive fluctuated according to the average surrounding temperature.</p>