Effect of electromagnetic radiations on brooding, honey production and foraging behavior of European honeybees (Apis mellifera L.)

The present investigation was carried out at HREC, Dhakrani, Dehradun during August-December, 2010. For the experiment three treatments, i) Colonies below the tower, ii) Colonies equipped with cell phone and iii) Colonies without cell phone were taken into consideration. To quantify the effect of electromagnetic radiation (EMR), all the treatments having different radiation level were maintained. It was observed that maximum brood area was found in control colonies (560.36 cm2) followed by the colonies kept near the tower 537.85 cm2 and lowest brood area (534.81 cm2) was observed in the colonies equipped with cell phone. The average honey production was found to be highest (14.43 kg/hives) in the colonies placed near the tower followed by cell phone equipped colonies (13.76 kg/hive), while control colonies produced 12.80 kg/hive honey in first harvesting. There was no remarkable change in the nectar and pollen gathering behaviour of foragers and sufficient pollen and nectar stored in the colonies during the course of study. Therefore, in the light of above findings conclusion can be drawn that there is no apparent effect of EMR on brooding, honey production and foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera colonies.   Key words: Electromagnetic radiations, GSM 900 cell phone, behaviour, brood, Apis mellifera.