SEASONAL INFLUENCE ON COLONY PERFORMANCE INDEX (CPI) IN APIS CERENA INDICA UNDER BANGALORE CONDITION
S.D. PRADEEPA *
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, UAS, GKVK, BANGALORE-560 065, INDIA.
N.S. BHAT *
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, UAS, GKVK, BANGALORE-560 065, INDIA.
M.K. PRABHAVATHI *
DEPARTMENT OF APICULTURE, DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Five colonies of 4 frame strength A. cerana indica were studied for the colony performance index for a period of one month during different season's viz. rainy, winter and spring seasons. The peak foraging activity was assessed from 08:00 h to 12:00 h in respective seasons before recording CPI in the experimental colonies. The peak foraging activity was at 9:30 to 10:30 h, 10:00 to 11:00 h and 8:30 to 9:30 hours in rainy, winter and spring seasons respectively. The mean Colony Performance Index was 5.46 in rainy, 14.14 in winter and 7.28 in spring and these showed significant differences among themselves. There was significant increase in CPI for successive three weeks from the start of the experiment, irrespective of seasons.
Keywords: Apis cerana, Colony Performance Index, Peak activity, Season's