Identification of Natural Food for Bees (Apis dorsata) in Oebola Dalam Village Forest, Kupang Regency

Apis dorsata is a honey bee living in the forest, making nests into single units hanging from tree branches and rock cliffs. The survival of A. dorsata colonies in the forest is closely related to the availability of plants that produce nectar and pollen as their natural food. The study aimed to determine the types of vegetation that serve as raw food around A. dorsata nests in the Oebola Dalam Village Forest, a honey-producing area. The research was carried out in May 2021. Data was collected using the Vegetation Analysis method line plot sampling with beehives as tie points and circular observation areas with a radius of 1000 m on a site of 314 Ha and a sampling intensity of 0.5%. The distance traveled by A. dorsata to find food is 1-2 km, so an area of 1.57 ha is obtained with 39 square plots divided into six lanes, each lane consisting of 6-7 square plots with a distance between lanes 60 degrees, and the distance between measuring plots is 25 m with a length of observation path of 300 m. The results of observations of the vegetation composition that became A. dorsata's natural food from tree species, poles, saplings, and seedlings found 12 plant species. They were dominated by Jambu Air INP 76% and Johar INP 64%. The results of identifying plants that produce nectar and pollen are Taduk (Alstonia scholaris), Tamarind (Tamarindus indica), Kusambi (Shleichera oleosa), Kapok Forest (Bombax malabarica), Guava (Syzygium aqueum), Lamtoro (Leucaena leucocephala), Johar (Senna siamea), White Teak (Gmelina arborea), Mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), Anonak (Annona squamosa), Teak (Tectona grandis) and Eucalyptus (Eucaliptus alba).