Suitability of polyurethane box for rearing Apis mellifera in India

摘要

Bee boxes made of different materials are used to rear the Indian hive bee, Apis cerana Fab. and the European bee, A. mellifera L. The most commonly used material is wood. Wood is now-a-days getting very expensive and is not easily available. Mishra (1995) suggested use of hay, reeds, steel and mud to make bee boxes for rearing A. mellifera. The Central Bee Research and Training Institute had earlier successfully tested different materials like concrete, bricks and fibre glass to make bee boxes for rearing A. cerana (Anonymous 1978, 1998). Crane (1990) reviewed the available information on use of plastic hives in beekeeping. Polyurethane in Australia, polyethylene in the Carribean, polystyrene sandwiched between aluminium sheets, expanded plastics, 'faser' board were tried in different countries. During 1994-96 we took up at the Institute's Field Observation Stations in north India, polyurethane boxes for testing their suitability to rear A. mellifera. We present here our preliminary findingsin these tests.