Insect visitors to this important crop in Punjab, India, included honeybees, other bees, butterflies and scoliid wasps. For honeybees, the average numbers of flowers visited per foraging trip were: Apis cerana, 124; A. mellifera, 87; A. dorsata, 94. The maximum numbers of flowers visited per min by these bees were 4.6, 5.7 and 5.5 respectivly. Boll retention on flowers known to have been pollinated by honeybees was 57-62%, on flowers pollinated by other insects it was 50%, and on self-pollinated flowers 30%. Cotton quality was significantly higher in bee-pollinated bolls.