Citation/Atıf: Kamatchi Murali N, Pernamallur Ayyaswami S, Govindasamy U, Muthusamy V. 2021. Foraging Activity of Managed Bee Pollinator (Apis cerana indica) In Bitter Gourd Cropping System In India (Hindistan'da Acı Kabak Yetiştirme Sisteminde Bakılmış Arı Tozlayıcısının (Apis cerana indica) Yayılma Faaliyetleri). U. Arı D./U. Bee J. 21(2):216-226, DOI: 10.31467/uluaricilik.1000935 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE FORAGING ACTIVITY OF MANAGED BEE POLLINATOR (Apis cerana indica) IN BITTER GOURD CROPPING SYSTEM IN INDIA Hindistan'da Acı Kabak Yetiştirme Sisteminde Bakılmış Arı Tozlayıcısının (Apis cerana indica) Yayılma Faaliyetleri Narmadha KAMATCHI MURALI1, Saravanan PERNAMALLUR AYYASWAMI2, Umapathy GOVINDASAMY3, Velmurugan MUTHUSAMY4 1Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641-003, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. ORCID No: 0000-0002-2007-036X, Yazarı/Corresponding author E-mail: narmadhakm@gmail.com 2Tapioca and Castor Research Station, Yethapur, Salem 636-119, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. ORCID No: 0000-0001-8789-4497, Email: entosaravanan@gmail.com 3Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641-003, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. ORCID No:0000-0002-5616-4544, Email: umapathy@tnau.ac.in 4Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641-003, INDIA. ORCID No: 0000-0002-4196-2877, Email: hortmrvelu@gmail.com Geliş Tarihi / Received: 26.09.2021 Kabul Tarihi / Accepted: 17.10.2021 DOI: 10.31467/uluaricilik.1000935 ABSTRACT Honey bees play an important role in crop pollination of bitter gourd flowers. An experiment was conducted at Coimbatore District to observe the foraging activity and pollination efficiency of Indian bee (A. cerana indica) in Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.). The foraging activity and number of foragers/ flower/ min was recorded in male and female bitter gourd flower. Bitter gourd fruit set and yield was assessed under three conditions pollinator exclusion, bee pollination and open pollination. No. of foragers/ flower/ minute (abundance of pollinators) and floral handling time in seconds (foraging rate) of Indian bees recorded on male flower (0.88 bees) and (6.52 sec) was higher than in female flower (0.57 bees) and (3.61 sec) respectively. The peak foraging activity of A. cerana indica noticed between 08:00-10:00 hours with 1.2 foragers/ 5 mins. Pollination efficiency index of Indian bee was 747035.5. Foraging activity at the hive entrance was maximum at 08:00 to 10:00 hours. Colony growth parameter of A. cerana indica was increased 67.85% in respect of the sealed honey area and 15.07% in respect of the adult population. The results of pollination studies show, the number of fruits/plant (17.4 fruits) and fruit yield per hectare (41.13 t/ha) was higher in managed bee pollinated plot than to open pollination condition (16.2 fruits) and (37.25 t/ha) and no fruit set was recorded in pollination exclusion condition. Key words: Bitter gourd, Apis cerana indica, foraging activity, pollination efficiency ÖZ Bal arıları, acı kabak çiçeklerinin mahsul tozlaşmasında önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Acı kabakta (Momordica charantia L.) Hint arısının (A. cerana indica) yiyecek arama aktivitesini ve tozlaşma etkinliğini gözlemlemek için Coimbatore Bölgesinde bir deney yapılmıştır. Erkek ve dişi acı kabak çiçeğinde yiyecek arama aktivitesi ve toplayıcı/çiçek/dk sayısı kaydedilmiştir. Acı kabak meyve tutumu Uludağ Arıcılık Dergisi – Uludag Bee Journal 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 216 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE ve verimi, tozlayıcı dışlama, arı tozlaşması ve açık tozlaşma olmak üzere üç koşul altında değerlendirilmiştir. Hint arılarının erkek çiçek (0.88 arı) ve (6.52 sn) dişi çiçekten (0.57 arı) daha yüksek olduğu kaydedilmiştir. (3.61 sn) sırasıyla. A. cerana indica'nın pik arama aktivitesi, 1.2 toplayıcı / 5 dakika ile 08:00-10:00 saatleri arasında fark edildi. Hint arısının tozlaşma verimlilik indeksi 747035,5 olmuştur. Kovan girişinde yiyecek arama faaliyeti en fazla 08:00-10:00 saatleri arasında olmuştur. A. cerana indica'nın koloni büyüme parametresi kapalı bal alanına göre %67.85, ergin popülasyona göre ise %15.07 artmıştır. Tozlaşma çalışmalarının sonuçları, idareli arı ile tozlanan parsellerde meyve/bitki sayısı (17,4 meyve) ve hektar başına meyve veriminin (41,13 t/ha), açık tozlaşma koşuluna (16,2 meyve) ve (37,25 t/ha) göre daha yüksek olduğunu göstermektedir ve tozlaşma dahil edilmedğinde hiçbir meyve tutumu kaydedilmemiştir. Anahtar kelimeler: Acı kabak, Apis cerana indica, yiyecek arama etkinliği, tozlaşma etkinliği GENİŞLETİLMİŞ ÖZET çalışma sonucunda A. cerana indica'nın çiçek üzerinde gözlemlenen aktivitesinin 06:00-10:00 Çalışmanın amacı: Çalışmanın amacı, saatleri arasında zirve yaptığı ve 17:00-18:00 Hindistan'daki acı kabak yetiştirme sisteminde bal saatleri arasında herhangi bir aktiviteye arısı Apis cerana indica'nın yiyecek arama rastlanmadığı ortaya çıkmıştır. A. cerana indica, aktivitesini ve tozlaşma etkinliğini değerlendirmekti. verimi ve meyve tutumunu arttırdığı için acı kabak Malzemeler ve yöntemler: Çalışma Coimbatore ekosisteminde etkili tozlayıcı olarak kabul edilmiştir. ilçesinde yürütülmüş, tozlayıcıların yiyecek arama Kovan girişindeki aktivite, toplayıcıların maksimum faaliyetlerini incelemek için on bitki rastgele hareketinin 08:00-10:00 saatleri arasında etiketlenmiş ve bitki başına 3 çiçek haftalık gözlemlendiğini ve deney süresi boyunca koloni aralıklarla gözlemlenmiştir. büyümesinin kapalı bal alanına göre %67.85 ve ergin popülasyona göre %15.07 olduğunu Tozlayıcının pik aktivitesi sırasında yiyecek arama göstermiştir. Meyve tutumu (17,4/bitki), meyve davranışı hayır olarak kaydedildi. toplayıcılar ağırlığı (255,3 g/meyve) ve 41.3t/ha verim, açık /çiçek/dakika (tozlayıcıların bolluğu) ve bireysel arı tozlaşmaya kıyasla kontrollü arı tozlamalı parselde tozlayıcısı/çiçek/dakika (toplayıcılık oranı) maksimum olmuştur. tarafından haftalık aralıklarla bir kronometre kullanılarak harcanan süre ve no. 0600-1800h Çözüm: Mevcut çalışmamız, A. cerana indica ile arasında iki haftada bir 5 dakikalık bir süre boyunca yönetilen arı tozlaşma koşulunda, açık tozlaşma ziyaret eden/çiçek açan toplayıcıların oranı. Arı koşulu ve tozlayıcı dışlama gibi diğer tozlaşma gövdelerindeki gevşek polen taneleri ölçülmüş ve modlarıyla karşılaştırıldığında, daha yüksek meyve no. vücuttaki gevşek polen taneleri × yiyecek arama tutumu ve meyve ağırlığı açısından farklı tozlaşma oranı × acı kabak çiçekleri üzerindeki tozlayıcıların modlarının verim değerlendirmesinin bolluğu. gözlemlendiğini ortaya koymuştur. tozlayıcı hariç tutma durumunda, meyve tutumu kaydedilmemiştir. Yönetilen arıların tozlaşma verimliliği, tozlayıcı dışlama (T1), arı tozlaşma (T2) ve açık tozlaşma koşulunda (T3) olduğu gibi farklı tozlaşma INTRODUCTION modlarında değerlendirildi, verim değerlendirmesi yapmak için çiçeklenme başladıktan sonra tedavi Pollination deficit is commonly noticed in many başına 350 dişi çiçek etiketlendi. Kovan girişinde cucurbits, due to monoecious nature of flowering, yiyecek arama faaliyeti 08:00-10:00, 12:00-13:00 ve which warrants the role of pollinators for fruit set and 16:00-18:00 saatleri arasında 5 dakika süre ile quality seed development. Honey bees play a crucial sayılmıştır. Koloni büyüme parametreleri, 1cm2'lik role in 80% crop pollination and at the same time şeffaf OHP levha ızgara yöntemi kullanılarak contribute to the production of 1.6 million tonnes of numaralandırıldı. honey (FAO, 2015). Managed bee pollination with A. cerana indica colonies increase the seed yield in Sonuçlar: Acı kabak, erkek ve dişi çiçek oranı 25:1 many agricultural and horticultural crops, as for olan tek evcikli bir mahsuldür ve genellikle açık example for sunflower 79%, for mustard 55%, for tozlaşma koşullarında (bal arılarının daha az safflower 64%, for coconut 40%, for gourds and for aktivitesinden dolayı) zayıf tohumla sonuçlanır. Bu 217 U.Arı D. – U.Bee J. 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE litchi 20%. The estimated losses due to insufficient Pollination efficiency index pollination in India were about Rs. 10,000 to Rs. Loose pollen grains were counted by collecting 55,000 per hectare in cross pollinated crops foraging bees in the field at peak hours of foraging (Mohapatra et al. 2019). between 08:00 h and 10:00 h using a sweep net and Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is widely bees are transferred to a glass vial containing 70% cultivated in Tropical and Sub Tropical countries and alcohol, shaken vigorously to unload the pollen popularly is called ampalaya, balsam pear, karela or grains from their body. Volume made up to 5ml. An bitter cucumber. In bitter gourd the male flower aliquot of 0.01ml was taken and observed under a (staminate) blooms first followed by female flowers microscope by using a haemocytometer. Repeated (pistillate) in the ratio of 19:12 (Deyto and Cervancia for 5 replications and the total number of pollen 2009) or 25:1 (Deshpande et al. 1979). Anthesis grains in 5ml of solution were calculated (Kumar et starts between 3.30 am to 7.30 am (Pal and Maurya al. 2012). 1972) and stigma receptivity lasts for 24h after Pollination Efficiency Index = No. of loose pollen anthesis. The bright yellow color flower attracts grains on the body × foraging rate × abundance of many pollinators. The flat structure and the opening pollinators on bitter gourd flowers. position of the flower favours them for easy access to pollen and nectar. In bitter gourd, honey bees Evaluation of pollination potential of managed were the most dominant pollinator which constitutes bee pollinators 74.98 % followed by other pollinators such as The yield of bitter gourd was assessed with different lepidopterans (4.92%), coleopterans (3.58%), modes of pollination. The experiment was conducted dipterans (4.35%) and hemipterans (3.19%) in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three (Jignesh and Pastagia 2021). Fruit development treatments and seven replication, 5 plants per starts from second to fifth day after pollination and replication (10 female flower per plant totally 350 insufficient pollination leads to drying of fruit on fifth flowers) were tagged after initiation of flowering to day or results in curling of fruit which affects the carry out yield assessment. Treatments included a) marketable quality of the fruit. Hence, an experiment pollinator exclusion (T1), where female flowers were was conducted, to study the foraging activity, to covered with sleeve cages before it begins to bloom measure the pollen grains on bee bodies and the (Fig. 1); one week after flowering the cages were colony growth of managed bees and to evaluate the removed; b) bee pollination (T2), where three frame pollination potential of Asiatic hive bees in bitter strength Indian bee colonies were shifted to bitter gourd. gourd field in Telugupalayam, at the time of initiation of flowering in 10% plants; c) while open pollinated condition (T3) which was considered as control. MATERIALS AND METHOD Yield parameters A field experiment was conducted at Telugupalayam area of Coimbatore District in India during 2021, to Number of fruits per plant, fruit weight and yield study the foraging behaviour of A. cerana indica; for The number of fruits in tagged plants were counted this, ten plants were randomly tagged and 3 flowers and the fruit weight recorded. Randomly harvested per plant was observed at weekly intervals ten fruits from tagged plants were weighed using a Foraging activity of managed bee pollinators on weighing balance and fruit weight was recorded. bitter gourd flowers Fruits in each tagged plant were harvested, weighed and the yield was calculated and converted into yield Abundance of pollinators was recorded as no. of per hectare (Manchare et al. 2019). foragers/ flower/ minute and foraging rate as time spent by individual bee pollinator/ flower/ minute on Foraging activity of A. cerana indica at hive both male and female flowers; both were recorded entrance using a stopwatch at weekly intervals during peak The number of returning foragers with nectar pollinator activity. Peak foraging activity was (corbicula without pollen), pollen (corbicula with recorded at an hourly interval from 06:00-18:00 h no. pollen) and number of outgoing foragers at the hive of foragers visited/flower for a period of 5 minutes at entrance was counted for the day during 08:00- fortnightly interval (Yogapriya et al. 2019). Uludağ Arıcılık Dergisi – Uludag Bee Journal 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 218 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE 10:00 h, 12:00-13:00 h and 16:00-18:00 h for a performed at P=0.05 levels of significance. All other period of 5 minutes. calculations are performed using the MS Excel. Colony growth of A. cerana indica placed in bitter gourd field Colony growth parameters as for example sealed brood area, sealed honey area, pollen storage area and adult bee population were enumerated using transparent OHP sheet grid of 1cm2 and observations recorded at 15 days interval, % increase in colony growth parameters was compared (Fig. 2). Statistical Analysis Data were analyzed using the ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) and least significant difference (LSD) was Figure 1: Sleeve cage (a) (b) Figure 2: Colony growth parameter by OHP sheet gird method (a) (b) Figure 3: Foraging activity of Indian bee on bitter gourd flowers 219 U.Arı D. – U.Bee J. 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE Peak foraging of activity of A. cerana indica in bitter gourd ecosystem 1,6 1,4 1,2 1 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0 Time Interval (h) Figure 4: Peak foraging of Indian bees in bitter gourd (a) Incoming nectar forager and outgoing bees (b) Incoming forager with pollen load in corbicula Figure 5: Foraging activity at the hive entrance Uludağ Arıcılık Dergisi – Uludag Bee Journal 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 220 No. of foragers visited /flower/5mins ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE (a1) (a2) (a) Pollinator exclusion (b1) (b2) (b) Bee pollination (c1) (c2) (c) Open pollinated condition Figure 6: Fruit set in different mode of pollination 221 U.Arı D. – U.Bee J. 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE RESULTS Foraging activity of A. cerana indica at hive entrance The result of the foraging activity of A. cerana indica showed that the abundance of forager bees was The foraging activity of A. cerana indica was higher in male flower than female flowers (Table 1). recorded at the hive entrance in a day at a different The maximum number of bees in male flower were time interval. The result revealed that the mean of 1.15 bees/ flower/ minute and minimum were 0.56 incoming nectar foragers was higher (47.36) than bees/ flower/ minute, whereas female flower incoming pollen foragers (16.5). Forager movement abundance of bees was maximum 0.90 bees/ flower/ was maximum at 08:00 to 10:00 h (53.8) followed by minute and 0.26/ bees/ minute (Fig. 3). 12:00 to 13:00 h (32.1) and minimum activity was at 16:00 to 18:00 h (33.53) (Table 4) (Fig. 5). Maximum time spent by a forager per flower in male flower was 8.83 seconds and minimum were 3.99 Colony growth parameter of A. cerana indica seconds, while in female flower its maximum and Colony growth parameter was recorded periodically minimum time spent was 5.65 and 2.60 seconds in A. cerana indica hive kept in bitter gourd field. The respectively (Table 2). result shows that increase in sealed honey area, The peak foraging activity of A. cerana indica (No. of pollen storage area, sealed brood and colony foragers visited / flower / 5min) was maximum (Fig. population. The colonies recorded 67.85% increase 4) during 06:00-10:00 h (1.21-2.29). The foraging of sealed honey area, 45.9% increase in pollen area activity gradually declined after 10:00-11:00 h (1.01) and 34.41% increase of sealed brood. Adult and no activity was observed between 17:00-18:00 population also increased from 2244 to 3924 bees h. The declining of the activity between12:00 – 17:00 per hive which accounts for and 15.07% increase h was mainly due to the nature of bitter gourd (Table 5). flowers, which starts drying at about 12:30 h (Deyto Effect of A. cerana indica on pollination and yield and Cervancia 2009). of bitter gourd Pollination efficiency index The maximum fruit set was found to be in bee Pollination efficiency of A. cerana indica was pollination condition and it was 17.4 fruits/plant while calculated by counting the number of loose pollen 16.2 fruits/plant on average was recorded in open grains adhering on the body (130200 pollen grains), pollination condition (T3). The fruit weight was higher multiplying by the abundance (0.88 no. of (255.3g/fruit) in bee pollination (T2) than open foragers/minute) and by foraging rate of A. cerana pollination condition (248.6g/fruit). The yield in bee indica (6.52). Pollination efficiency index of A. pollination condition was 41.13t/ha followed by open cerana indica was found to be 747035.5 (Table 3). pollination condition (37.25t/ha). In pollinator exclusion (T1), no fruit set was observed under sleeve caged condition (Fig. 6) (Table 6). Table 1. Abundance of Indian bees on bitter gourd No. of foragers/flower/ min ± S.D 15th day 30th day 45th day 60th day 75th day 90th day 105th day 120th day Mean Male 0.56±0.04 0.67±0.071 0.9±0.03 1.05±0.15 1.15±0.03 0.97±0.014 0.96±0.004 0.81±0.091 0.88 flower Female 0.38±0.15 0.26±0.07 0.51±0.06 0.55±0.17 0.90±0.014 0.88±0.15 0.62±0.063 0.60±0.05 0.57 flower Mean 0.47 0.47 0.68 0.80 1.03 0.92 0.79 0.65 0.73 Note: *Mean of 10 plant observations; S.D: Standard Deviation Uludağ Arıcılık Dergisi – Uludag Bee Journal 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 222 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE Table 2. Foraging activity of Indian bee in bitter gourd Floral handling time (forager/flower/ min) in seconds ± S.D 15th day 30th day 45th day 60th day 75th day 90th day 105th day 120th day Mean Male flower 3.99±1.06 5.36±0.8 6.70±0.06 6.23±0.103 8.83±2.15 7.65±0.14 7.61±0.9 5.82±0.6 6.52 Female flower 2.49±1.36 3.61±0.74 2.74±1.19 2.60±0.702 5.65±0.4 4.70±0.13 3.89±0.30 3.20±0.84 3.61 Mean 3.24 4.48 4.72 4.42 7.24 6.18 5.75 4.51 5.07 Note: *Mean of 10 plant observations; S.D: Standard Deviation Table 3. Pollination efficiency index of A. cerana indica on bitter gourd Pollination index Foraging rate Number of loose Abundance (Abundance × Bee species (Foraging activity in pollen grains on the (No. of foragers/ min) Foraging rate × Loose flower /seconds) body* pollen grains) A. cerana indica 0.88 6.52 130200 747035.5 Note: *Mean of five observations under stereo zoom microscope. Table 4. Foraging activity of A. cerana indica at hive entrance during peak flowering period. Foraging Time 08:00-10:00h 12:00-13:00h 16:00-18:00h Mean 60.1 32.4 49.6 47.36 Incoming nectar forager (7.74) a (5.69) c (7.04) b 33.2 14 23 16.5 Incoming Pollen forager (5.758) a (3.72) b (1.492) c 68.1 49.9 28 48.5 Outgoing bees (8.24) a (7.04) b (5.27) c Mean 53.8 32.1 33.53 C.D. (P=0.05) - - - 0.346 Note: *Mean of five observations, figures in parentheses are √(x+0.5) (square root) transformed values. In rows means followed by different alphabets are significantly different at 5% level LSD Table 5. Colony growth parameter of A. cerana indica in bitter gourd % Increase Days (15 Sealed % Increase Pollen Sealed % Increase % Increase in pollen Adult bee days honey in sealed storage brood area in sealed of bee storage population interval) area (cm2) honey area area (cm2) (cm2) brood area population area 15 37 - 46 - 165 - 2244 - 30 56 51.35 71 39.13 215 30.3 3410 51.96 45 94 67.85 89 45.9 289 34.41 3924 15.07 Note: *Mean of two observations. 223 U.Arı D. – U.Bee J. 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE Table 6. Effect of different mode of pollination on bitter gourd yield Modes of No. of female No. of No. of Fruit % Increase Yield of 10 Yield % Increase pollination flowers picking fruits weight (g) in fruit plants (kg) (t/ha) in yield Observed /plant /plants weight (t/ha) Pollinator 350 0 0 0 - 0 0 - Exclusion** (0.71)c (0.71)c (0.71)c - (0.71)c - - Bee pollination 350 13.57 17.4 255.3 2.6 44.42 41.13 10.28 (A. cerana indica) (3.89)a (4.34)a (16.03)a - (66.58)a - - Open pollinated 350 10.86 16.2 248.6 - 40.27 37.25 - condition (3.52)b (4.23)b (15.82)b - (63.91)b - - S.E (d) 0.011 C.D. (P=0.05) 0.024 Note: *Mean of five observations, **No fruit set was observed in pollinator e-xclusion. figures in parentheses are √(x+0.5) (square root) transformed values. In columns, means followed by alphabet are significantly different at 5% level LSD. DISCUSSION 08:00 – 10:00 h (3.47 bees/m2 /5 mins) followed by Megachile sp. at 08:00 – 10:00 h (2.07 bees/m2/5 Bees are the most reliable and utilized pollinators in mins) and minimum activity of A. dorsata at 08:00 – bitter gourd. Managed pollination with honey bees is 10:00 h (1.67 bees/m2/5 mins). the effective method in which the bee hives shifted to the field at the time of flowering in 10 % plants. Our results showed that pollination efficiency index The above-mentioned results of abundance of A. A. cerana indica was 747035.5 are in line with Singh cerana indica was 0.73 bees/ flower/ minute (overall and Mall (2020) who observed that the activity of A. mean of male and female flower) and foraging cerana indica in cucumber had a pollination activity was 5.07 seconds are in accordance with efficiency index value of 320718.5. Kumar et al. result of Yogapriya et al. (2019) who reported that (2019), also reported that in bitter gourd the the abundance of A. cerana indica in bitter gourd maximum number of pollen grains in A. dorsata was flowers was 0.90 individual/ 5mins/ m2 and the 170000 (pollination index was 132600), followed by average time spent by the individual bee in each Megachile sp. 80000 pollen grains (84000 pollination flower was 3.91 second. index) Halictus sp. was 60000 (86400 pollination index). Peak foraging activity of A. cerana indica was maximum at 06:00-10:00 h (1.21-2.29) and this is in Sowmiya et al. (2018) reported that sealed honey line with the result of Yogapriya et al. (2019) who area was increased from 58.4 to 81.9 cm2, pollen also observed the maximum foraging activity at storage area from 40.2 to 65.9 cm2, sealed brood 06:00-10:00 h (2.88/ m2/ 5min) and minimum activity area from 63.9 to 89.9 cm2 and adult population from at 14:00-16:00 h (0.345 seconds/ m2/ 5min). 2171 to 3305 bees per hive when they were placed Nidangundi et al. (2005) reported that the foraging in moringa (Moringa oleifera) orchard during the activity of A. cerana indica started from 08:00 h and experimental period which supports our finding that peak activity was recorded during 10:00 h (12.51 significant increase in sealed honey area, sealed bees/ m2/ 5min). The maximum activity of A. cerana brood, pollen area and colony population were indica was also observed at 10:00 h with 3.69 bees/ recorded in Indian bee hive kept in bitter gourd field m2/ 5min (Jignesh and Pastagia 2021). Kumar et al. during the experiment. 2012, recorded the foraging activity of Halictus sp. at Uludağ Arıcılık Dergisi – Uludag Bee Journal 2021, 21 (2): 216-226 224 ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ / RESEARCH ARTICLE The results of present findings are in accordance Desphande, A. A., Venkatasubbaiah, K., Bankapur, with the result of Ngawang et al. (2017) who reported V. M., Nalawadi, U.G. 1979. Studies on floral maximum fruit set of 87.14% under bee pollination biology of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia condition and 65.21% under open pollination L.). Mysore Journal of Agricultural Science. condition respectively. Deyto and Cervancia (2009) 13: 156-157. also recorded higher fruit set 78% in bitter gourd Food and Agricultural Organization, 2015. under natural pollination. The effect of bee (72.09g) and (62.44g) pollinator exclusion. The yield in bee pollination condition was 118.87 quintals Jignesh, D. P., Pastagia, J.J. 2021. To study the followed by open pollination 68.63 and caged plots pollinator fauna of bitter gourd and their 45.23 without bees. Rajasekhar (2001) reported foraging behaviour in natural pollination and higher fruits of (22.37) per plot under managed augmentation of Apis cerana bees to natural pollination in watermelon, with two colony and 20.75 pollination. J. Pharm. Innov. SP-10(6): 91- fruits one colony per plot. 95. Conclusion Kumar P., Surender K. S., Mahesh K. R. 2012. Diversity, abundance, and pollination Pollination deficit under open pollination condition is efficiency of native bee pollinators of bitter results in lower yield of bitter gourd. A. cerana indica gourd (Momordica charantia L.) in India. J. is the effective managed pollinator of bitter gourd Apic. Res, 51(3): 227-231. and its cross-pollination activity significantly http://dx.doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.51.3.02 enhances the yield parameters. Colony growth parameter of A. cerana indica was also increased Mohapatra, L. N., Sontakke, B. K., Ranasingh, N. during the period of experiment. Hence, managed 2010. Enhancement of Crop Production bee pollination with A. cerana indica considered as Through Bee Pollination. Orissa Review can be best approach for the farmers as well as bee Singh, M., Mall, P. 2020. Pollination Efficiency of keepers to enhance the bitter gourd yield and honey Different Species on Cucumber yield respectively. (Cucumis sativus) in Tarai Region of Source of finance for the study: There is no Uttarakhand. Int. j. curr, microboil. appl. sci. source of finance for this study. 11: 2832-2839. Contribution of authors: I express my special Manchare, R. R., Kulkarni, S. R., Patil, S. D. 2019. thanks of gratitude to my chairman Dr. P.A. Effect of Bee pollination on Seed Yield and Saravanan and co-authors for their guidance in Yield Contributing Characters of Bitter completing my research. Gourd Momordica Charantia L. Chem. sci. rev. lett. 8(30), 236-240. Declaration of conflict of interest: Authors have no conflict of interest to declare and all the co- Ngawang, D., Dharam P. A., Uma S. 2017. Insect authors have accepted the content. Visitors on Cucumber and Bitter gourd Flowers and Impact on Quantity of Crop Acknowledgement Production by Different pollination I express my special thanks of gratitude to my Treatment. J. Apic. Res. 32(2): 77-88. chairman Dr. P.A. Saravanan and co-authors for Nidagundi, B. R., Sattagi, H. N. 2005. Pollinator their guidance in completing my research. Fauna and Foraging Activity of Bees in Bitter Gourd. Karnataka J Agric. Sci. 18(4): (982- 985). REFERENCES Pal, U.R., Singh, U.R. and Maurya, R.A., 1972. Deyto, R. C., Cervancia, C. R. 2009. Floral biology Floral Biology of Bitter-Gourd. Indian J and pollination of Ampalaya (Momordica Hortic., 29(1), pp.73-76. charantia L.). Philipp. Agric. Sci. 92(1): 8-18. Rajasekhar, W. 2001. 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