1. Assessing the Role of Honey Bees in a Field of Asiatic Cotton ( Gossypium arboreum L. ) by A. S. Tanda, Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Luhiana-141004 INDIA

3. INTRODUCTION to: Assessing the Role of Honey Bees in a Field of Asiatic Cotton

7. REPORT TO FOLLOW

13. RESULTS: These findings are the results of: (1) Number of bee visits per flower (2) Pollination efficiency of bees (3) Number of flower visits (4) Effect on quantity & quality of Asiatic cotton * See TABLE 1 Below

14. TABLE 1 4.6 flowers p/m 86.60 A. mellifera L 5.5 flowers p/m 94.35 A. dorsata F. 5.7 flowers p/m 124.10 per trip ¾ A. c. indica F. Time Visited Per Minute Max. # of Flowers Visited Per Trip Bee Species

16. GRAPH 1

18. Effects of bee pollination on boll retention and qualitative characteristics of Asiatic cotton (G. arboreum), 4.0 3.6 4.2 4.3g% seed index 33.7 33.2 34.2 34.3% ginning turn-out (%lint) 17.1 17.0 18.1 18.1mm halo length 15.8 15.5 16.2 16.3mm a mean fiber length 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.8g seed cotton weight per boll 50 30 57 62% boll-retention rate Open Pollinated Self pollination A. c. indica , Apis mellifera FLOWERS :

19. General Notes The C.D. (critical difference) at 5%, —, 0.07, 0.53, 1.09, 0.79, 0.29, respectively. In all the tests, the quality of cotton produced in bagged bolls pollinated by bees was significantly superior to that of cotton produced in bag without bees. However, the difference obtained with A. mellifera and A. c. indica bees was not significant. Similar results have been obtained by McGregor (1976) and Tanda and Goyal (1979b) in cage in which bees were confined.

20. Works Cited Free, J.B., (1976). Insect Pollination of Crops , Academic Press: London. 544 pp. Goyal, N.P. and A.S. Tanda. (1978) Effect of Bee Pollination on Boll Retention in Gossypium Arboreum Linn . Seed Farms . Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp 45-46. Goyal, N.P. and A.S. Tanda. (1979) Insect pollination in Asiatic Cotton . Journal of Agricultural Research , Vol. 18 Issue 3. pp 64-72. Goyal, N.P. and A.S. Tanda. (1979) Pollen Dispersal by Insects in Desi Cotton (Gossypium arboreum Linn.) Seeds Farms , Vol. 5. Issues 5-8. pp 56-59. Goyal, N.P. and A.S. Tanda. (1979) Preliminary Observations on the Effect of Intervarietal Bee Pollination of Desi Cotton (Gossypium arboreum Linn.) Indian Journal Entomology , Vol. 41, Issue 3. pp 281-282. Goyal, N.P. and A.S. Tanda. (1979) S ome Observations on the Behavior of Apis mellifera Linn. and Apis cerana indica Workers in a Field of Desi Cotton ( Gossypium arboreum Linn.) American Bee Journal , Vol. 119. Issue 2. pp 106. McGregor, S. E., (1976) Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crops . U.S. Govt. Printing Office :Wasghington, D.C. 400 pp. Tanda, A.S. (1976) Studies on the Role of Insect Pollination in Desi Cotrton (Gossypium arboreum L.) Punjab Agricultural Univ: Ludhiana. 73 pp.