scholarly journals Is the Brood Pattern within a Honey Bee Colony a Reliable Indicator of Queen Quality?

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen V. Lee ◽  
Michael Goblirsch ◽  
Erin McDermott ◽  
David R. Tarpy ◽  
Marla Spivak
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Quality Measures ◽  
Reliable Indicator ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Specific Sign ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Second Year

Failure of the queen is often identified as a leading cause of honey bee colony mortality. However, the factors that can contribute to “queen failure” are poorly defined and often misunderstood. We studied one specific sign attributed to queen failure: poor brood pattern. In 2016 and 2017, we identified pairs of colonies with “good” and “poor” brood patterns in commercial beekeeping operations and used standard metrics to assess queen and colony health. We found no queen quality measures reliably associated with poor-brood colonies. In the second year (2017), we exchanged queens between colony pairs (n = 21): a queen from a poor-brood colony was introduced into a good-brood colony and vice versa. We observed that brood patterns of queens originally from poor-brood colonies significantly improved after placement into a good-brood colony after 21 days, suggesting factors other than the queen contributed to brood pattern. Our study challenges the notion that brood pattern alone is sufficient to judge queen quality. Our results emphasize the challenges in determining the root source for problems related to the queen when assessing honey bee colony health.

scholarly journals Colony strength in the spring inspection and its impact on the amount of foraged pollen at the time of red clover pollination

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Jevtic ◽  
B. Andjelkovic ◽  
Z. Lugic ◽  
N. Nedic ◽  
K. Matovic
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Second Year ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Bee Colonies

In this study, the impact of honey bee colony strength in the spring inspection on the colony strength at the time of pollination, the amount of foraged pollen and on the colony strength in autumn was observed. The honey bee colonies were, after the spring inspection, divided into two groups, based on the amount of bees. The weak colonies, in spring inspection, had an average up to 4 frames occupied by bees and the strong colonies, in the spring inspection, had more than 6 frames occupied by bees. In addition to the amount of bees, the amount of brood and food supplies were assessed in the inspections. It was determined that the stronger colonies had more pollen foragers in all three year of observation. The quantity of foraged pollen, in addition to strength in the spring inspection, was influenced by year. In two years (first and third) more pollen and larger quantity of red clover pollen was collected by the strong colonies, while in the second year, more pollen and a large quantity of red clover pollen was collected by weak colonies. In the fall inspections was found that the strong colonies still had more bees and brood, more pollen and, also, more honey in relation to the weak colonies.

scholarly journals Ovipositor sources for queen-rearing of honey bee (Apis mellifera) revealed inheritable maternal effect on reared queen

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Longtao Yu ◽  
Xinxin Shi ◽  
Xujiang He ◽  
Weiyu Yan ◽  
Xiaobo Wu
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Physiological Indexes ◽  
Foraging Ability ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Weight Number

Abstract Queen is arguably the most important member of a honey bee colony, and queen quality is crucial for honey bee colony growth and development. In this study, queens were reared with eggs laid in queen cells (QE), eggs laid in worker cells (WE) and 2-day old larvae in worker cells (L). Those physiological indexes (the weight, thorax size and number of ovarioles) of newly reared queens in each group were measured. Moreover, the reproductive potential of the newly reared queens and foraging ability of worker bees laid by the newly reared queens in each group were further explored. In addition, we also examined whether maternal effects would be transmitted to the offspring queens in honey bee. We found that the weight, number of ovarioles and thorax weight of newly emerged queens in QE were significantly higher than those in WE and L, suggesting the reproductive potential was stronger in QE group than WE and L group. Furthermore, offspring worker bees and queens of QE queens had higher weight at emergence than those from the other two groups. This study proved profound honey bee maternal effects on queen quality, which can be transmitted to their offspring. Our results of the present study were important for improving queen quality and promoting the development of beekeeping and agriculture.

scholarly journals Tracking All Members of a Honey Bee Colony Over Their Lifetime Using Learned Models of Correspondence

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Boenisch ◽  
Benjamin Rosemann ◽  
Benjamin Wild ◽  
David Dormagen ◽  
Fernando Wario ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony

Ukraine is Moving Forward from “Undiscovered Honey Land” to Active Participation in International Monitoring of Honey Bee Colony Losses

Bee World ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariia M. Fedoriak ◽  
Per K. Angelstam ◽  
Oleksandr M. Kulmanov ◽  
Lesia I. Tymochko ◽  
Svitlana S. Rudenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
International Monitoring ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony Losses
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