BEEKEEPING & DEVELOPMENT 42
FLY BY NIGHTS ne
APICULTURE SANS FRONTIERES A non-profit making association promoting beekeeping in developing countries. ASF also evaluates and supervises projects.
As in previous years ASF is offering courses on
General, Tropical and Subtropical Beekeeping 1-25 July 1997 at the Beekeeping Centre, Mons, Belgium
Courses are in French For information contact
De Vriendt Philippe, Chemin de la procession, 31B-7000 Mons,
Belgium Tel/Fax: +32 (0) 65 35 47 89
RECO commonly known as Red Sanders, is small deciduous tree. It grows in Andhra Pradesh, india. We have been studying the reproductive ecology of this economically important tree species in its natural habitat in the Sri Lankamalai Reserve Forest. This is typically dry, hilly and rocky habitat. Pterocarpus santalinus, a
yellow. On one occasion, the research team went into the deep forest at 0400 hours and
located
a
The trees have no leaves during February and March. The summer showers trigger the development of new foliage and flowering
tree in full bloom. By then, the rock bee Apis dorsata was actively foraging at the
&
E}
Pterocarpus santalinus
exhibits
very special flowering pattern: during the flowering period, the tree does not have flowers every day. On some days there is mass flowering and this is followed by little or no flowering for 2-5 days. In one tree that was watched a
continuously, flowering occurred over a period of 28 days, with mass blooming on five occasions. The first mass bloom was evident on 18 April, second on 21 April, third on 26 April, fourth on 5 May and fifth on 6 May 1995. Mass blooming on two consecutive days is a rare phenomenon. This kind of flowering pattern with a few bursts of flowering is energetically advantageous to the plant. It concentrates reproductive energy into those few, specific flowering periods.
A swarm of bees invaded Harare Sports Stadium, Zimbabwe, as two African national football teams, the Black Stars of Ghana, and their Zimbabwe counterparts met in a World Cup qualifying match in January 1997.
Just before the half-time whistle, the swarm descended on the playing field apparently to congratulate the two sides for an excellent display of good football. This swarm | believe, had been watching the first half of the match hovering high up in the air above the stadium. They then decided to come down to meet the players, but “Lo and Behold”, players, officials and spectators
SIX
The flowers of Red Sanders open at night: flower opening begins around 2330 hours. All the flowers open en masse: despite its name the petals of Red Sanders are in fact bright
flowers of this tree. The foraging activity of the bees continued up to 0630 hours. On another occasion, the research team spent the whole night in the forest to find out the exact time of flower opening. We noticed rock bee visitation at 0230 hours. There was a full moon. First, the bees were found foraging ona nearby tree of Bauhinia racemosa, where they were
collecting pollen.
building. It
The seems
rock bees on
Pterocarpus santalinus
continued foraging up to 0500 hours and from then onwards
their activity declined and had ceased totally by 0730 hours. During daylight hours, no other insect visitor was observed except Xylocopa latipes that made occasional visits. is summary of the full paper presented at India’s National Conference on Tropical Bees and the
This
a
Environment,
see News
Around the World
O|_.
- BOYS
alike absconded, some of them lying down flat, and stiff on the turf! Some players covered their head with their jerseys to avoid stings. Surprised at this reception the swarm of bees quickly took to the air and disappeared to the relief of all in the stadium.
—___
After this excitement the match was a bit of a disappointment,
ending in
a
goal-less draw.
Kwame Aidoo,
B&D’s Correspondent
in Ghana
A Bees for Development publication
