FLIGHT RANGE OF AFRICANIZED HONEYBEES, Apis mellifera L. 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) IN AN APPLE GROVE

• Main Authors: PARANHOS B.A.J, WALDER J.M.M, CHAUD NETO J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 1997-01-01
• Series: Scientia Agricola
• Subjects: honeybees; flight range; radiophosphorus
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-90161997000100012

Africanized honeybees from five colonies were marked with P-32 and taken to an apple grove for a flight behavior study. The method used to determine the flight range was to put out an array of tagged trees in a cross pattern with the colonies arranged in the center point of a 0.8 ha test area. The tagged trees were located 10 meters apart in the 4 rows of 50 meters each, arranged according to the North, South, East, and West directions. Bees were collected while visiting the tagged tree flowers twice a day, during a ten-day period. The number of honeybees marked decreased in relation to the distance from the hives. Analysis of variance showed that a linear regression was highly significant to describe the process. Geographic directions did not affect the activity of the bees.