The trend of Apis dorsata Fabricius colony migration in Chitwan, Nepal.

Keywords: Apis dorsata, honeybees, migration, absconding

A study was carried out to find out the trend of A. dorsata colony migration in Chitwan district. Monthly observations on the arrival and departure of A. dorsata colonies at eight sites were taken throughout the year. The mean number of colonies declined steadily from May to August (2000), was absent in September and October (2000), reached the highest peak in January (2001), and started again declining from March (2001) onward, which demonstrated a sigmoid or S-curve when plotted on a graph. The annual mean (± SE) number of A. dorsata colonies was 6.07 (± 0.74). The monthly mean number of colonies was negatively correlated with the monthly mean temperature, and significantly affected by both 'Time' and 'Sites'. It reveals that A. dorsata needs conservation for bio-diversity maintenance.