Summary
The relationship between the annual colony cycle and seasonal patterns of forage availability was investigated for the African honey bee,Apis mellifera scutellata, in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana. The annual cycle occurred in three distinct periods. The swarming season occurred from October-November, following two to three months of intense brood production, and coincided with the end of peak forage abundance. The migration season occurred from November-May and coincided with reduced and variable floral resources. During the migration season, brood production and food storage were generally low but quite variable from month to month, and swarms passing over the study area at this time traveled in an easterly direction. The migration season was followed by the establishment period (June-September), in which large numbers of new colonies traveling from the west moved into the study area. The establishment period coincided with, and slightly preceded, the period of peak forage abundance, and colonies devoted resources collected at this time almost entirely to brood rearing, which culminated in swarm production. The data suggest that honey bee colonies in the Okavango are mobile and gear their reproduction and movement to seasonally shifting resource pattern.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, M. D., 1955. Observations on honeybees attending their queen.British J. Anim. Behav. 3:66–69.
Alien, M. D., 1960. The honeybee queen and her attendants.Anim. Behav. 8:201–208.
Clauss, B., 1983.Bees and Beekeeping in Botswana. Ministry Agri., Botswana, 122 p.
Cobey, S. and S. Locke, 1986. The Africanized bee: A tour of Central America.Am. Bee J. 126:434–440.
Fletcher, D. J. C., 1975–1976. New perspectives in the causes of absconding in the African bee (Apis mellifera adansonii).S. Afr. Bee J. 47:11–14; 48:6–9.
Fletcher, D. J.C., 1978. The African bee,Apis mellifera adansonii, in Africa.Ann. Rev. Entomol. 23:151–171.
Fletcher, D. J. C., 1991. Interdependence of genetics and ecology in a solution to the African bee problem. In:The “African” Honey Bee (M. Spivak, D. F. C. Fletcher and M. D. Breed, Eds.), Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 77–94.
Fletcher, D. J. C. and G. D. Tribe, 1977. Swarming potential of the African bee,Apis mellifera adansonii L. In:African Bees: Taxonomy, Biology and Economic Use (D. J. C. Fletcher, Ed.), Apimondia, Pretoria, pp. 25–34.
Hall, H. G. and K. Muralidharan, 1989. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA that African honey bees spread as continuous maternal lineages.Nature 339:211–213.
Nightingale, J., 1976. Traditional beekeeping among Kenya tribes, and methods proposed for improvement and modernization. In:Apiculture in Tropical Climates (E. Crane, Ed.), International Bee Research Association, London, pp. 15–22.
Otis, G. W., 1982. Population biology of the Africanized honey bee. In:Social Insects in the Tropics (P. Jaisson, Ed.), Proc. Symp. I.U.S.S.I. Cocoyoc, Mexico, pp. 209–219.
Otis, G. W., 1991. Population biology of the Africanized honey bee. In:The “African” Honey Bee (M. Spivak, D. J. C. Fletcher, and M. D. Breed, Eds.), Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 213–234.
Otis, G. W., M. L. Winston and O. Taylor, 1981. Engorgement and dispersal of Africanized honeybee swarms.J. Apic. Res. 20:3–12.
Pesante, D., 1985.Africanized and European honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)pollen and nectar foraging behavior and honey production in the neotropics. PhD Dissertation, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge.
Rinderer, T. E., 1988. Evolutionary aspects of the Africanization of honey-bee populations in the Americas. In:Africanized Honey Bee and Bee Mites (G. R. Needham, R. E. Page Jr., M. Delfinado-Baker, and C. E. Bowman, Eds.), Ellis Horwood Ltd., Chichester, pp. 13–28.
Rinderer, T. E. and A. M. Collins, 1991. Foraging behavior and honey production. In:The “African” Honey Bee (M. Spivak, D. J. C. Fletcher, and M. D. Breed, Eds.) Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 235–258.
Rinderer, T. E., J. A. Stelzer, B. P. Oldroyd, S. M. Buco and W. L. Rubink, 1991. Hybridization between European and Africanized honey bees in the neotropical Yucatan peninsula.Science 255:309–311.
Ruttner, F., 1988.Biogeography and taxonomy of honeybees. Springer-Verlag, New York, 284 p.
Schneider, S. S., 1990a. Nest characteristics and recruitment behavior of absconding colonies of the African honey bee,Apis mellifera scutellata, in Africa.J. Insect Behav. 5:225–240.
Schneider, S. S., 1990b. Queen behavior and worker-queen interactions in absconding and swarming colonies of the African honey bee,Apis mellifera scutellata (Hymenoptera: Apidae).J. Kansas Entomol Soc. 63:179–186.
Schneider, S. and R. Blyther, 1988. The habitat and nesting biology of the African honey beeApis mellifera scutellata in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana, Africa.Ins. Soc. 35:167–181.
Schneider, S. S. and L. C. McNally, 1992. Seasonal patterns of foraging activity in colonies of the African honey bee,Apis mellifera scutellata, in Africa.Ins. Soc. (in press).
Seeley, T. D., 1985.Honeybee Ecology. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 201 p.
Sheppard, W. S., T. E. Rinderer, J. A. Mazzoli, J. A. Stelzer and H. Shimanuki, 1991. Gene flow between African- and European-derived honey bee populations in Argentina.Nature 349:782–784.
Silberrad, R., 1976.Bee-keeping in Zambia. Apimondia, Bucharest, 74 p.
Smith, D. R., O. R. Taylor, W. M. Brown, 1989. Neotropical Africanized honey bees have African mitochondrial DNA.Nature 339:213–215.
Smith, F., 1958. Beekeeping observations in Tanganyika.Bee World 39:29–36.
Winston, M. L., 1980. Seasonal patterns of brood rearing and worker longevity in colonies of the Africanized honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in South America.J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 53:157–165.
Winston, M. L., 1987.The Biology of the Honey Bee. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 281 p.
Winston, M. L., 1991. The inside story: Internal colony dynamics of Africanized Bees. In:The “African” Honey Bee (M. Spivak, D. J. C. Fletcher, and M. Breed, Eds.). Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 201–212.
Winston, M. L., G. W. Otis and O. Taylor, 1979. Absconding behaviour of the Africanized honeybee in South America.J. Apic. Res. 18:85–94.
Woyke, J., 1976. Brood rearing and absconding of tropical honey bees. In:African Bees: Taxonomy, Biology and Economic Use (D. J.C. Fletcher, Ed.), Apimondia Pretoria, pp. 96–102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McNally, L.C., Schneider, S.S. Seasonal cycles of growth, development and movement of the African honey bee,Apis mellifera scutettata, in Africa. Ins. Soc 39, 167–179 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01249292
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01249292