Abstract
The European bee Apis mellifera L., previously reported to be indifferent to 'shoran' Plectranthus won's, has been observed foraging on this wild plant in the higher hills during the last few years. On average honey yield of A. melltfera on P. ntgosus varied from 7.4 to 12.9 kg per colony in Swat area.
INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS
'hair' Plectranthus rugosus is one of the commonest shrubs in the Western Hi-malayas. It blooms during autumn and is known to be an excellent wild honey plant for the oriental bee Apis cerana F. (Singh, 1975; Ahmad & Muzaffar, 1984), while the European bee Apis mellifera did not forage on this plant (Atwal & Goyal, 1974; Wati-ur-Rahman & Chaudhry, 1985). Studies were undertaken to evaluate P. nggosus as honey source for the occidental bee A. mellifera as WC [1.
Studies were carried out on honey pro-duction potential of the European bee Apis mellifera colonies on 'shaire Piectranthus n4- gosus in Swat area. The adaptation of A. mellifera to P. rugosus was based on the honey produced by the European bee colonies of variable strength (5 to 10 frame bees) placed on P. rugosus at different loca-tions in Swat during August-October, 1990.
Honey production on 4shain': The 'shaire P. rugosus is the commonest shrub in the
Table 1. Honey produced by A. mellifera colonies on 'chain' P. rugoszts
buration
Locality
T14.11/4■11
Bee strength Average honey yield (frames) (kg)
August, 18 to October 10, 1990
August 18 to October 15, 1990
September 15 to October 17, 1990
September 6 to October 17, 1990
Baba Oddu Behar Behar
6 to 10 6 to 5 to 10 5 to 10
107
7.4 (n = 77)
11,9 (n = 100)
12.9 (n - 87)
10.3 (n -- 51)
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