Nest Structure and Pollen Analysis of Honey Bee Apis koschevnikovi and Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from Belitung

Abstract

Indonesia is home to several species of honey bees, two of them are Apis koschevnikovi the restricted distribution in Sundaland and Apis cerana the wide distribution in Asia region. The information on comb cell size, body size, and pollen resources used by A. koschevnikovi remains limited, thus we compared comb cells, worker body size, and pollen preferences between sympatric A. koschevnikovi and A. cerana in Keciput Village, Belitung, Indonesia. We measured the diameter and depth of worker and drone cells, body length, and body weight of worker bees. Pollen samples from honey and corbicula of both species were analyzed using the acetolysis method. We found that the average diameter and depth of A. koschevnikovi worker and drone cells were larger and deeper than A. cerana. The body size of A. koschevnikovi showed the same pattern as the cell size of both species. The pollen types in honey and corbicula collected by A. koschevnikovi revealed a greater variety than A. cerana. Apis koschevnikovi primarily foraged on Acacia mangium and Elaeis guineensis, while A. cerana collected pollen only from A. mangium. Ilex cymosa and Syzygium urceolatum are the local pollen species characteristic of Belitung.