Habitat, Nesting Behaviour and Collony Organization of Stingless Bees Tetragonula laeviceps Smith

Investigations on habitat, nesting behaviour and colony organization of stingless bees, Tetragonula laeviceps Smith in South Gujarat were undertaken at Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari during March 2012 to February 2013. For the purpose, colonies available in different districts of south Gujarat were observed. The results revealed that the colonies of T. laeviceps were observed in wall cavities (85.29%), tree cavities (8.80%) and pole cavities (5.88%) and located at height of 1160.71 mm, 1020 mm and 1065 mm from ground level, respectively. The entrance of the colony was made up of resin and the newly built entrance was soft, later turned darker and became rigid due to maturation. The length and width of entrance tube of colonies nested in wall cavities were 26.75 mm and 18.50 mm. Similarly, the colonies nested in tree cavities had the length and width of entrance tube to the extent of 38.50 mm and 20 mm. The colonies nested in pole cavities had the length and width of entrance tube to the extent of 5.00 mm and 21.50 mm. The studies on colony organization of T. laeviceps were made by opening five colonies. The colonies of T. laeviceps consisted of food storage zone and brood zone. Food storage zone was divided into pollen pots and honey pots. The length and width of pollen pots was 6.77 and 4.98 mm, respectively. The length and width of honey pots was 7.62 and 4.75 mm, respectively. The length and width of brood cells was 1.47 and 1.29 mm, respectively. The density of pollen pots, honey pots and brood cells were 13.50, 4.85 and 15 cells/cubic inch, respectively.