Introducing a Technique in Sustaining Adult Worker Bees of Heterotrigona itama (Cockerell, 1918) in Laboratory to Facilitate Future Health Research on Kelulut Honey

ABSTRACT

@#Introduction: The study is introducing a laboratory technique to sustain the longevity of Heterotrigona itama stingless bees collected from the farm in order to facilitate future health research on Kelulut honey. Methods: The worker bees were held in laboratory at 26 ± 2 oC, 57 ± 8 % relative humidity (RH) and 1212 hours (lightdark period) in a cup covered with meshed cloth and installed with an inverted-wick system consists of a drinking straw with the bottom end loosely plugged with cotton wool. The artificial diet was pipetted into the straw to wet the cotton wool. The bees were divided into five diet groups, namely a) unfed - control, b) distilled water, c) purified tap water, d) non-carbonated isotonic drink or e) 5% honey solution. Feeding activity and survival of worker bees were observed daily. Results: The worker bees are seen to frequent and lick the cotton wool wetted with artificial diets. Comparison between the artificial diets, Kaplan-Meier statistical analysis showed that the 5% honey solution and non-carbonated isotonic drink have significantly (P < 0.05) extended the longevity of the worker bees with 50% survival probability at least 8 days. When the similar holding and feeding technique used for the bees from commercial farms, the 50% survival probability was extended to 14 days. Conclusion: The inverted-wick system with the use of 5% honey solution or isotonic drink as the artificial diet is capable to hold the H. itama worker bees at least for a week with survival above 50% for laboratory experiments.