Strong Impact of Five Genetic and Non-genetic Factors Exerting Their Effects on Honey bee Queens to Increase Bee honey Production

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra El-Kheima,Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of using queens produced from a superior race, a young larval age, an improved diet, a large colony and young workers on weight of bee honey production.
The study has shown remarkable increases in honey production, attaining:
(1) 33.9% in citrus honey, 60.5% in clover honey as a result of using queens from the Italian race Apis mellifera ligustica as compared to queens from the Carniolan race Apis mellifera carnica.
(2) 58.1%, 61.5% and 64.7% in citrus honey and 61.8%, 177.0% and 232.2% in clover honey as a result of using queens reared from larval ages of 12 hours as compared to larval ages of 24, 36 and 48 hours, respectively.
(3) 69.2% and128.3% in citrus honey and 4.1% and126.1% in clover honey as a result of using queens from colonies fed on pollencake+5%thymolascompared to those fed on diets of pollen cake and sugar solution, respectively.
(4) 26.7% and 136.7% in citrus honey and 26.1% and 67.2% in clover honey as a result of using queens from colonies including 9 combs as compared to 6 and 3 combs, respectively.
(5) 50.0% in citrus honey and 90.8% in clover honey as a result of using queens reared by nurse workers as compared to field workers.
These results revealed wide opportunities for beekeepers to enhance their honey production whenever they rear queens from the Italian race Apis mellifera ligustica produced from larvae of 12 hours of age, fed on a diet involving pollen cake + 5% thymol reared in colonies containing 9combs and being relied on nurse workers

Keywords

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences. A, Entomology
Volume 8, Issue 2
October 2015
Pages 59-64

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