Ramesh P. Singh

Essential amino acids in Apis mellifera larvae during floral dearth.

The biology of the fruit fly Bactrocera tau, an important horticultural pest, was studied under laboratory conditions at 25°C and 60–70% relative humidity on Cucurbita maxima. The duration of mating averaged 408.03 ± 235.93 min. After mating, the female fly had a preoviposition period of 11.7 ± 4.49 days. The oviposition rate was 9.9 ± 8.50 eggs and fecundity was 464.6 ± 67.98 eggs/female. Eggs were elliptical, smooth and shiny white, turning darker as hatching approached, and measured 1.30 ± 0.07 mm × 0.24 ± 0.04 mm. The chorion has polygonal microsculpturing and is species‐specific with polygonal walls. The egg period lasts for 1.3 ± 0.41 days. The duration of the larval period is 1.2 ± 0.42, 1.7 ± 0.48 and 4.0 ± 0.94 days for first, second and third instars, respectively. Pupation occurs in the sand or soil and pupal periods are 7.0 ± 0.47 days. The life cycle from egg to adult was completed in 14.2 ± 1.69 days; the longevity of mated females and males was 130.33 ± 14.18 and 104.66 ± 31.21 days, respectively. At least two to three generations were observed from June 2008 to June 2009.

Impact of bee pollination on seed yield, carbohydrate composition and lipid composition of mustard seed

SUMMARYThe impact of self (SP), open (OP), hand (HP), bee (BP) and auto-pollination (AP) on yield and carbohydrate and lipid composition of seeds of Brassica campestris L. var. toria was investigated. The pollination percentage as confirmed by pod formation was 8.1% (SP), 82.3% (OP), 88.3% (HP) and 96.4% (BP). BP plants were found to produce 3 times heavier pods, 4 times more seeds per pod, 50 times more seeds per plant, 11 times more pods per plant and 84 times more seed yield per plant than SP plants. Carbohydrate content was inversely proportional to lipid content. In the seeds of SP plants the total carbohydrate content was about twice that of seeds of BP plants. Triglycerides constituted the majority of neutral lipids. In the seeds of BP plants triglycerides constituted about 74% of the total non-polar lipids, which was about 20 times more than in SP plants. Sterol was the least abundant of all the lipids and phosphatidylcholine was absent from ail seeds. High lipid content was directly related to hi...

The effect of the availability of bee forage plants and environmental conditions on the nesting of Apis dorsata Fabr.

Summary Nesting of Apis dorsata Fabr. was influenced by the availability of forage plants and prevailing temperatures. There was an assured nectar and pollen supply during October to June through the flowering of more than twenty nectariferous plants, major ones being: Brassica campestris;Brassica rapa; Cajanus cajan; Moringa oleifera; Bombax ceiba; Helianthus annuus; Syzygium cumini; Emblica officinalis and Pongamia pinnata. The total numbers of nesting colonies were 28 in November and four in June coinciding with abundant food and optimum temperature in the first half and a decline later on. The greatest number of nests (35) was observed in January, at semi protected (32) and unprotected (3) sites, when minimum and maximum average temperatures were 7.8 and 24.2°C, respectively. The numbers of bee colonies at such sites in June, when the minimum and maximum temperatures were 26.8 and 33.7°C declined to four and none, respectively. May and June maximum temperature ranged between 40 to 45°C during daylight hours, and average temperature was about 11.4°C higher than November. However, in 2000, the highest number of colonies (33 and 35), was observed in January when temperature was the lowest (5.8–7.8°C).

Evaluation of physico-biochemical traits in kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.).

The present study was conducted to evaluate ten advanced germplasm of kodo millet for different physico- biochemical and yield related traits in kodo millet ( Paspalum scrobiculatum L.) during Kharif 2013- 14 at the Students’ Instructional farm of Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Narendra Nagar (Kumarganj), Faizabad (U.P.) India. A wide range of variability were observed for all the characters studied in 10 kodo millet germplasm collected from farmer’s field of eastern U.P. A significant variation was detected for all traits suggested that there was considerable variability among the germplasm. It was observed that characters viz. , plant height of different germplasms recorded between . 50.85 to70.07cm. The 1000- seed weight (test weight) of different germplasms was recorded between 3.86 to 7.78 g and maximum protein content was recorded in the germplasm NDK-8 (9.86%). The maximum crude fibre content was obtained in the germplasm NDK-9 (6.90%) followed by NDK2 (6.81%) and NDK7 (6.80%). Maximum total mineral content was noticed in NDK-5 (2.29%) and lowest content was recorded in NDK-4 (1.94%). These parameters are effective for selection of better germplasm. So these were utilized in further research work.

The beneficial effects of feeding mahua (Bassia latifolia Roxb.) flower syrup to honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies during periods of dearth

Summary In parts of India, honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies experience long periods of food dearth. Beekeepers traditionally feed sugar syrup during such times. Experiments showed that feeding colonies in dearth periods with a syrup made from an extract of the flowers of mahua (Bassia latifolia), which provides both sugar and protein, was a better alternative, resulting in increased honey and propolis production, increased brood production and multiplication of colonies, and increased larval weight, protein and fructose content, compared to feeding with sucrose syrup.