Influence of the type of insemination of the queen bee on her egg-laying activity

Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Ralitsa Balkanska, Maia Ignatova, Ivona Dimitrova

Abstract: The aim of the study is to determine the influence of the type of insemination of the queen bee artificial and natural) on her egg-laying activity. The experiment was conducted in 2021 at three apiaries (№ 5063-004 and 5063-0018, located in the village of Bukovets, and apiary № 5185-0506 in the village of Radanovo), separated from each other by more than 5 km in the district Veliko Tarnovo. Two queen bee lines from each apiary are used – Line 1 (LM-20) and Line 2 (LM-45). Two groups of bee colonies were formed from each line. Each group consisted of 6 bee colonies with artificial inseminated queen bees and 6 bee colonies with natural inseminated queen bees. Queen bees from the group of the artifical inseminated bee colonies were inseminated once with 10 μl of seminal fluid at the age of 8 days from their hatching. Artifical inseminated queen bees showed higher values of the egg-laying activity in the individual seasons (spring and autumn) compared to natural iseminated queen bees. The differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001). A statistically significant
difference (p < 0.001) was found between the two queen bee lines LM-20, LM-45.

Keywords: artifical and natural iseminated queen bees; egg-laying activity of queen bees; honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera L.); quantity of sealed brood

Date published: 2023-02-27