Abstract

ORIGINAL ARTICLE 133 SOME BEHAVIOURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUDANESE HONEY BEE J WOYKE FAD Representation, Khartoum, Sudan' Introduction Knowledge of honey bee biology, especially behaviour, is essential for efficient colony management. The biology of African honey bees is much less well known than that of European honey bees. Of the African honey bees, Apis me/litera scutel­ 4 9 13 15 lata, the honey bee introduced into Brazil in the 1950s, is the best known ' ' ' • The behaviour of Africanized bees in the Americas may differ from that of African honey bees. Some behavioural characteristics of A. m. adansonii are also known ••. • In this article, some of the characteristics of the Sudanese honey bee (Apis me/litera yemenitica Ruttner 1975, ecotype nubica) are described, placing particular emphasis on the differences between this bee and European honey bees and bees from the south of the Arabian peninsula. As the behaviour of the same bees may differ in different conditions, the circumstances of this study are briefly described here. The observations were conducted during three FAO missions in Sudan; (1) from 3 October to 6 November 1988, during the dearth period; (2) from 29 January to 28 February