2024, Vol. 9, Special Issue 2

The present investigation was conducted to find out the influence of bee attractants on foraging activity of honey bee in sunflower. The research work was carried out on field of Division of Entomology RCSM College of Agriculture, Kolhapur during summer season 2023. The results obtained are summarized below.

In present study, ten species of pollen and nectar feeders were visited on sunflower during the flowering period, of which seven species were recorded from Hymenoptera, two from Lepidoptera and one from Diptera. Relative abundance of different honey bee species at 10% flowering of sunflower revealed that the maximum number of Apis cerena indica was recorded (38.53%) followed by A. dorsata (21.64%), A. florae (17.39%), A. mellifera (12.95%). The maximum bees foraging activity at 50% flowering stage was recorded in the plots treated with jaggery solution 10% and followed by lemongrass oil 1%, lemongrass oil 0.5%, sugar solution 5% and jaggery solution 5% from 1^st day after spraying to 7^th day after spraying. The normal bee visits were recorded in the plots treated with cumin oil 1%, cumin oil 0.5%, orange oil 1% and orange oil 0.5% from 1^st day after spraying to 7^th day after spraying. The maximum bees foraging activity was recorded in the plots treated with the jaggery solution 10%. The minimum bees foraging activity was in recorded in Open pollination (Water).