Study of Flight Pattern and Inside Hive Temperature of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera meda) during the Ziziphus Tree Flowering Season

Ziziphus honey, because of its properties and high nutritional value, was highly regarded. In this study, we tried to study the pattern and factors that affecting the honey bee behavior as well as the inside hive temperature during the Ziziphus flowering season. For this purpose, the traits (ingoing honey bee and inside hive temperature) were measured in 6 colonies of native honey bee in 9 days at 5 different hours. A randomized complete block design was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the temperature inside the hive was variable between 31 to 39 °C, minimum temperature was at the beginning of the day and maximum at midday. The flight behavior varies in different hours of the day. Minimum flight was at midday, and maximum at the end of the day. Also, the flight behavior was influenced by the inside and outside hive temperature. The maximum flight was when the hive outside temperature was 36 °C and the hive inside temperature was between 35 and 36 °C. It was also observed that with increasing temperature, less worker bees go out to collect the nectar and they cooperate in colony cooling. Based on these results and considering the temperature rise during Ziziphus flowering period, it is suggested that studies be conducted to reduce the temperature inside the hive.