NECTAR SUGAR PRODUCTION AND FLOWER VISITORS OF THE BRAMBLE, RUBUS ELLIPTICUS SMITH (ROSACEAE), AT SOLAN, INDIA Jitendar Kumar GUPTA Raj Kumar THAKUR Department of Entomology and Apiculture, University of Horticulture and Forestry, College of Horticulture, Nauni, Solan, India - 173230 SUMMARY Nectar sugar production in flowers of Rubus ellipticus averaged 6.93 mg/flower at 24 h and the accumulation of the sugar in the bagged flowers occurred only during the first 24 h of flower opening. The amount remained unchanged up to 72 h and then the flowers began to wither. Nectarivores collected about 80 per cent of the total nectar secreted. The concentration of solutes as determined from the honey sac contents of foraging Apis mellifera, ranged from 65.3 to 71.3 %. Honey bees (A. mellifera and A. cerana indica) were the prominent nectar foragers on the bloom. Other Hymenoptera, various Diptera and Lepidoptera were the other visitors. INTRODUCTION In the organization of a good food base for honey bees it is extremely important to know the available food resources and their nectar properties. Although much work has been done on the various aspects of nectar produc- tion in other parts of the world (P ERCIVAL , 1946, 65 ; S HUEL , 1975 ; S IMID - C HI EV , 1976 ; N UÑEZ , 1977 ; C ORBET , l g 7 g ; R OBERTS , 1979 a,b ; P LEASANTS , 1983 ; C ORBET and D ELFOSSE , 1984), negligible data are available on the nectar properties in flowering plants of India (S HARMA , 1958 ; W AKHLE et al., 1981 ; G UPTA et al., 1984). In our program on the evaluation of different bee forage, the present paper deals with bramble, Rubus ellipticus Smith (Fam., Rosaceae). It is a wild prickly shrub and bears white flowers, 0.84 to 1,27 cm in diameter, crowded in axillary and terminal panicles. It flowers from Janu- ary-March and grows throughout the Himalayas at an altitude varying between 610 to 2140 meters above sea level. The fruit has the flavor of raspberry and is good to eat (C OLLE TT, 1921).