Foraging Response of Apis florea and Apis cerana indica to Bee Attractants and its Impact on Aster (Callistephus chinensis) Seed Yield

Aims: Aster (Callistephus chinensis L.) is a seed-propagated annual flower crop widely used in floral arrangements, garlands and landscaping, making it increasingly popular among small-scale farmers. Despite this growing interest, challenges like poor seed quality and low seed set have made it difficult to meet the demand for high-quality Aster seeds in market. As a cross-pollinated crop, Aster depends heavily on pollinators, particularly honeybees, to ensure effective seed production. By enhancing cross-pollination, bee attractants can help boost seed yield. Thus, our aim to identify suitable local, bee attractants and evaluate their effectiveness in improving Aster seed yield. Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was conducted over two years (2021-22 and 2022-23) at the ICAR-Directorate of Floricultural Research, Pune. Methodology: Experiment is conducted with seven treatments and three replications. Bee attractant sprays were applied twice to the crop during its flowering period, first taken at 20 per cent flowering and the second spray was applied at 70 per cent flowering. Observations were recorded on abundance of bee visitors and seed yield parameters. Results: The results showed that the sugar solution (10%) attracted a significantly higher number of Apis florea (35.08 bees/ m2 /5 min) and Apis cerana indica (17.44 bees/ m2 /5 min) bees, comparable to the jaggery solution (15%), with no statistically significant difference observed between the two treatments. Seed yield parameters including number of seeds per flower, weight of seed/flower, seed yield (kg/ha), and test weight of seeds recorded highest in plots treated with sugar solution (10%) (171.63, 0.40g, 291.33 kg/ha and 2.79g, respectively) which was statistically on par with jaggery solution (15%) (159.63, 0.39g, 281.74kg/ha and 2.57g, respectively). Conclusion: The study concluded that both sugar solution (10%) and jaggery solution (15%) are effective in increasing bee activity, which in turn helps boost seed production in cross-pollinated crops like Aster. This research offers valuable insights into potential of affordable and accessible attractants for marginal and smallholder farmers which aims to enhance pollination and seed production in Aster.