author(s)
Jasvir Singh Dalio

abstract
One of the major problems in beekeeping is presence of floral dearth periods. So it is desirable to study subsistence flora during these periods. A study was conducted on foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera on Trianthema portulacastrum, which is a very common weed of summer season under Punjab conditions. Foraging activity took place during morning (0730 to 1020 hours) time only and reached a peak at 0830 to 0850 hours. Average abundance of bees on this weed was 5.89 bees/m²/min, while maximum foraging activity was noted to be 13 bees /m² / min from 0830 to 0840 hours. Mean foraging frequency was 18.22 flowers/min. Maximum number of flowers visited / min. was 25 (at 0820 to 0830 hours). Average pollen load observed was 2 mg/ bee. This weed is minor source but provide subsistence forage and serve an important purpose of sustaining bee colonies at critical time of floral scarcity.