Vol.49 No.1 2005 Content Aldona Gontarz, Małgorzata Bieńkowska, Krzysztof Loc -Effect of queen caging conditions on insemination results 5 Krzysztof Olszewski, Jerzy Paleolog - Foraging and hoarding efficiency in Buckfast purebreds and Norwegian Black Bee (A. m. mellifera) hybrids. Part 1. Annual honey yield versus results of field flying cage and laboratory tests 17 Jerzy Paleolog, Krzysztof Olszewski - Foraging and hoarding efficiency in Buckfast purebreds and Norwegian Black Bee (A. m. mellifera) hybrids.Part 2. Comparison with the Caucasian bee hybrids under flying cage and laboratory test conditions 27 Beata Madras-Majewska, Zygmunt Jasiński, Agata Jojczyk,Franciszek Korfanty - Effect of early supplemental feeding honeybeecolonies with a substitute of bee bread made of drone brood candy, glucose and honey on colony strength 41 Jurgis Racys, Renata Montviliene - effect of bees-pollinators in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) crops 47 Li Jilian, Wu Jie, Peng Wenjun, An Jiandong, Guo Zhanbao, Tong Yuemin - Nosema bombi, a microsporidian pathogen of the bumble bee Bombus lucorum 53 Bolesław Jabłoński, Zbigniew Kołtowski - Nectar secretion and honey potential of honey-plants growing under Poland's conditions - Part XV 59 Wu Jie, Peng Wenjun, An Jiandong, Guo Zhanbao, Tong Yueming, Li Jilian - Techniques for year-round rearing of Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in China 65 Grzegorz Borsuk, Jerzy Paleolog - A rare case of overdominance in defensive behaviour of workers in honeybee colonies 71 Krystyna Żółtowska, Zbigniew Lipiński, Małgorzata Dmitryjuk, Anna Myszka - Sugar content, trehalase activity and trehalose level in drone prepupae of Apis mellifera carnica parasitized with varroa 79 Agata Konarska, Marzena Masierowska, Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska - The structure of nectaries and nectar secretion in common pear (Pyrus communis L.) 85 EFFECT OF QUEEN CAGING CONDITIONS ON INSEMINATION RESULTS Aldona Gontarz1, Małgorzata Bieńkowska2, Krzysztof Loc3 1 Department of breeding methods and Fur Animals Breeding,Akademia Podlaska (University of Podlasie), ul. B. Prusa 14, 08-110 Siedlce.2 Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division,ul. Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy.3 Teodorów Honeybee Breeding Apiary, Teodorów 57, 08-114 Skórzec. Received 18 November 2004; accepted 14 April 2005 Summary The study was performed in a honeybee breeding apiary at Teodorów in 2004. Honeybee queens were caged in queenless colonies or in an incubator. Temperature was compared in spaces between frames of colonies where either non-inseminated queens were kept in Zander cages without attendant bees or instrumentally inseminated queens in "Folchron" mailing cages were attended by bees. Temperature was also measured in cages with queens that were placed in beehives or in incubators. Temperature records were also taken outside the beehives and in the incubators. During the final investigations the manner in which the queens were kept before and after insemination was compared for its impact on the filling of queen spermathecae and on the evacuation of sperm from the oviduct. The temperature in the frame spaces of honeybee nests in which the cages with instrumentally inseminated bees together with attendant bees were placed was found to average 34.5°C and to be significantly higher than that measured in the frame spaces containing cages with non-inseminated queens and without attendant bees. In each of the nurse colonies with inseminated queens different thermal conditions prevailed, with ambient temperature having a significant impact. New attendant bees introduced to queens upon their instrumental insemination modified the temperature inside the cage by raising it within the first several hours following re-introduction of the queen into the colony to more than 35°C. In the incubators, the temperature in the cages was higher than outside the cages. The temperature was also higher in those cages in which the attendant bees had been introduced a day before insemination than in those in which attendant bees were introduced after the insemination (35.4°C and 34.7°C, respectively). The highest percentage of queens with well filled spermathecae and with emptied oviducts was found in the incubator-reared group in which, following insemination, the queen was re-introduced to the same attendants with which she was kept prior to the treatment. Possibly plausisterly the result can be linked to stable thermal conditions at which the queens were kept and to better care provided to the queen by the attendant bees which had already accepted the queen on the previous day and got used to being under confinement faster than by newly caged bees. Keywords: queen bees, insemination, filling of spermathecae, stasis of sperm, temperature Full text PDF Back to the top FORAGING AND HOARDING EFFICIENCY IN BUCKFAST PUREBREDS AND NORWEGIAN BLACK BEE (A. m. mellifera) HYBRIDS PART 1. ANNUAL HONEY YIELD VERSUS RESULTS OF FIELD FLYING CAGE AND LABORATORY TESTS Krzysztof Olszewski, Jerzy Paleolog Faculty of Biology and Animal Breeding, Department of Biological Basis of Animal Production, Agricultural University in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Akademicka 13, e-mail: krzysztof.olszewski@ar.lublin.pl Received 23 November 2004; accepted 12 May 2005 Summary Honey yield measured throughout the entire season was compared with the foraging and hoarding efficiency (sugar syrup/candy) in Buckfast (Bcf) and in Norwegian Black Bee queens x Caucasian drone hybrids (Nor x Cau) using both field and laboratory cage tests. During the field tests artificially made nucleus colonies were tested under flying cages. Nor x Cau do not seem to be overly sensitive to adverse weather conditions. Bcf bees were efficient both in good and in worse weather and they represent more efficient foraging/hoarding behaviour. Nor x Cau, which may be encountered in the Lublin region did not prove to be a good combination. Results of the cage tests correspond to the honey yield measured in the full size colonies. The amount of syrup foraged in the test under the flying cages corresponded to the amount of the stored syrup supplies. Therefore combining these two tests results in the proper assessment of the hoarding behaviour. Keywords: hoarding, foraging, honey yield, cage tests, A. mellifera. Full text PDF Back to the top FORAGING AND HOARDING EFFICIENCY IN BUCKFAST PUREBREDS AND NORWEGIAN BLACK BEE (A. m. mellifera) HYBRIDS PART 2. COMPARISON WITH THE CAUCASIAN BEE HYBRIDS UNDER FLYING CAGE AND LABORATORY TEST CONDITIONS Jerzy Paleolog, Krzysztof Olszewski Faculty of Biology and Animal Breeding, Department of Biological Basis of Animal Production, Agricultural University in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Akademicka 13, e-mail: jerzy.paleolog@ar.lublin.pl Received 23 November 2004; accepted 11 April 2005 Summary Three genetically different bee groups: Buckfast (Bcf), crossbreeds derived from mating Norwegian queens (A. mellifera mellifera) with Caucasian drones (Nor x Cau) and hybrids derived from mating Caucasian queens with Carniolan drones (Cau x Car) were compared for their ability to forage and store sugar food in field tests under flying cages and in laboratory tests. Cau x Car were used as reference/background for the former two groups. In the field trial, Cau x Car foraged the greatest amount of syrup followed by Bcf and Nor x Cau. The same results were obtained when the collection of candy by caged bees was evaluated in the laboratory. The amount of syrup foraged by bees bore no relationship to its amounts hoarded in the combs nor to the amount of candy collected in the laboratory. The greatest amount of supplies were hoarded by Bcf to be followed by Cau x Car and Nor x Cau. It was because Bcf processed the greatest amount of foraged syrup into stores and Nor x Cau were superior to Cau x Car, the latter being the worst performing sugar syrup hoarders. Bcf bees can be recommended for use and their performance can be due, to a large extent, to their general combining ability. In Norwegian bees specific combining ability can be a factor of much importance. Keywords: Buckfast, Apis m. mellifera, cage tests, foraging, hoarding. Full text PDF Back to the top EFFECT OF EARLY SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDING HONEYBEE COLONIES WITH A SUBSTITUTE OF BEE BREAD MADE OF DRONE BROOD CANDY, GLUCOSE AND HONEY ON COLONY STRENGTH Beata Madras-Majewska, Zygmunt Jasiński, Agata Jojczyk, Franciszek Korfanty Departament of Animal Science, Agriculture University of Warsaw Received 2 December 2004; accepted 29 December 2004 Summary The experiment was run in a stationary apiary, at Grabownice, the poviat of Brzozów, in the spring of 2004. The trial involved nineteen honeybee colonies divided into two groups: group I - 10 honeybee colonies were fed candy mix made of drone pupae and powdered glucose, group II - 9 colonies fed honey-and-sugar candy. The development of colonies was assessed based on brood area measurements. The experiments furnished evidence that early spring feeding of honeybee colonies with a mix of drone brood and glucose raised brood number in the colonies but only when the bees were unable to forage for pollen. Later in the season, i.e. in April and in May feeding with candy not only failed to increase colony strength but had an inhibitory effect. Thus feeding that kind of bee bread substitute in April and May is unwarranted since at that time the bees can feed the brood with the food made of freshly harvested pollen and with bee bread made thereof. Keywords: colony strength, drone brood, colony development. Full text PDF Back to the top EFFECT OF BEES-POLLINATORS IN BUCKWHEAT (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) CROPS Jurgis Racys, Renata Montviliene Department of Apiculture, Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture, 58344 Akademija, Kedainiai district, Lithuania, E-mail: bitinsk@lzi.lt Received 16 December 2004; accepted 19 May 2005 Summary The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of bee pollination of buckwheat crops on the seed productivity and plant development. Six plots each 4 m2 in size were arranged in a buckwheat field. Four plots in the field were isolated by a net. Nucs with bees were placed in two of the plots (one per plot). Plant productivity, height of plants and number of branches per marked plant were measured. The plants attractive to insects were identified by counting all insects present in blossoms in an area of 100 m in length and 1 m in width. The tests conducted at the Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture during 1999-2001 showed that bees and other insect pollinators affect not only seed productivity but also development of plants. The plants visited by pollinators were shorter in height than the plants grown in the isolated plots. The insufficiently pollinated plants had 16.8-19.6% more side branches. The length of flowering period of the plants visited by pollinators was 10.0-16.5% shorter. The nectar production of buckwheat depends on the weather conditions rather than on plant density. The tested plants secreted in average 89.8 kg/ha of nectar (from 10.9-160.2 kg/ha), which is 36.1 kg/ha biological sugar. Bees were the main pollinators, they accounted for 81% of all insect-pollinators. The honeybees in wet periods did not fly but bumblebees visited blossoms even in bad weather. The buckwheat plants intensively visited by pollinators produced 21.7- -41.4% higher seed yield compared with the seed yield obtained in isolated areas. Keywords: buckwheat, pollination, productivity, attractiveness, length of flowering period. Full text PDF Back to the top Nosema bombi, A MICROSPORIDIAN PATHOGEN OF THE BUMBLE BEE Bombus lucorum Li Jilian, Wu Jie, Peng Wenjun*, An Jiandong, Guo Zhanbao, Tong Yuemin Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Beijing 100093, China. *Corresponding auther: bumblebeeljl@yahoo.com.cn, pengwenjun@vip.sina.com Received 23 December 2004; accepted 11 May 2005 Summary This paper reports an examination of N. bombi isolated from the native bumblebee (B. lucorum) in China using electron microscopy to study its morphology, compare with N. bombi (B. terrestris) and N. apis. N. bombi (B. lucorum) is oval, showing blue refraction, its surface is smooth, no characteristic shape was found. And no difference was found between the morphology of N. bombi obtained from B. lucorum and that from B. terrestris, significant differences were found between the ultra-structure of N. bombi (B. lucorum) and that from N. apis. So the results show that N. bombi (B. lucorum) was distinct from N. apis. Keywords: bumble bees, Bombus lucorum, Nosema bombi, morphology, ultra-structure. Full text PDF Back to the top NECTAR SECRETION AND HONEY POTENTIAL OF HONEY-PLANTS GROWING UNDER POLAND'S CONDITIONS - Part XV Bolesław Jabłoński, Zbigniew Kołtowski Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division, ul. Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland; e-mail: zbigniew.koltowski@man.pulawy.pl Received 1 February 2005; accepted 11 April 2005 Summary In the years 2000-2004 11 herbaceous plant species growing on a light podzolic soil in Puławy were tested for their beekeeping value. It was found that the total amount of sugars secreted on the 10-flower basis was ca. 0.4 mg for Eupatorium cannabinum, 1-2 mg for Anthyllis vulneraria, 2-3 mg for Onopordon acanthium and Trifolium incarnatum, 4-6 mg for Dahlia variabilis, Echinacea purpurea and Silphium perfoliatum, 20-30 mg for Echinops ruthenicus, Lathyrus silvester and Sida hermaphroditis, ca. 40 mg for Echinops ritro. The amounts of sugars yielded by 1 ha of a dense stand of Anthyllis and Lathyrus were ca. 50(60) kg, Onopordon 90 kg, Trifolium 110 kg, Eupatorium 130 kg, Dahlia and Echinacea 150 kg, Echinops ruthenicus and Sida 180(190) kg, Echinops ritro 380 kg, Silphium 450 kg. The flowers of the surveyed species were visited from morning until evening mainly by the honeybee and also by wild bee-like insects as well as by Diptera, that were interested in nectar and in pollen. In principle, all species tested in this survey deserve the attention of beekeepers because in the areas of their occurrence they enrich nectar flows and the forage supply to insect pollinators in general. Keywords: melliferous plants, blooming, nectar secretion, visitation by bees. Full text PDF Back to the top TECHNIQUES FOR YEAR-ROUND REARING OF Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) IN CHINA Wu Jie, Peng Wenjun, An Jiandong, Guo Zhanbao, Tong Yueming, Li Jilian* Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, P.R. China. *Corresponding author: bumblebeeljl@126.com Received 31 March 2005; accepted 30 May 2005 Summary The effect of different temperature and different stimulation oviposition methods on the development of bumblebee colonies was examined. The experimental results showed that a climate room at 30°Cą0.5 and RH 60%, queen with a plastic cocoon model and two honeybee workers were appropriate for rearing Bombus terrestris colonies in China. 36.42% of queens mated successfully when proportion of queens and drones was 1:5, the successful copulation was highest compared with other four proportions (1:1, 1:3, 1:8, 1:10), their successful copulation rate was 13.43%, 25.83%, 30.24%, 18.98% respectively. These techniques provide opportunities to rear Bombus terrestris colonies year-round in China. Keywords: Bombus terrestris, bumblebee, colonies, techniques, temperature, stimulation methods, successful copulation, year-round rearing, proportion. Full text PDF Back to the top A RARE CASE OF OVERDOMINANCE IN DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOUR OF WORKERS IN HONEYBEE COLONIES Grzegorz Borsuk, Jerzy Paleolog Faculty of Biology and Animal Breeding, Department of Biological Basis of Animal Production, Agricultural University of Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, ul. Akademicka 13, e-mail: norek@ursus.ar.lublin.pl Received 1 April 2005; accepted 29 April 2005 Summary Fifteen experiments were performed over five years. In each of them, the defensive behaviour of 3 nucleus colonies, which were artificially composed of gentle and defensive bees mixed in the following proportions: 80% : 20%, 50% : 50%, 20% : 80% was compared with the defensive behaviour of two homogenous nucleus colonies consisting of 100% defensive and 100% gentle bees. Fifteen repetitions of the ball test were performed in each of the fifteen experiments and also different combinations of various bees were used in each of them. Worker genotypic interactions were evaluated on the colony level. The interactions were additive in 13% and nonadditive in 87% (dominance 66%) for the time to the first sting (seconds) and they were additive in 33% and nonadditive in 67% (dominance 40%) for the sting number. Moreover, overdominance was observed in 2 out of 15 experiments, which had not been reported previously. Different aspects of such rare case of nonadditive worker interactions were discussed. It is interesting, that either defensive or gentle bees could be dominating, depending on the season and type of the bees. Keywords: defensive behaviour, mixed-colony, genotypic variation, worker-interactions, Apis mellifera. Full text PDF Back to the top SUGAR CONTENT, TREHALASE ACTIVITY AND TREHALOSE LEVEL IN DRONE PREPUPAE OF Apis mellifera carnica PARASITIZED WITH VARROA Krystyna Żółtowska, Zbigniew Lipiński*, Małgorzata Dmitryjuk, Anna Myszka Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Warmia and Mazury, Oczapowskiego 1A, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland e-mail: zlotow@matman.uwm.edu.pl * ul. Janiny Wengris 8, 10-716 Olsztyn, e-mail: Lipinski@sprint.com.pl Received 11 April 2005; accepted 17 May 2005 Summary A study performed on drone prepupae of honeybees Apis mellifera carnica naturally infested with Varroa destructor showed a significantly lower sugar content, 7.08 ą 2.34%, as compared to 11.98 ą 2.16% in non-infested larvae. The trehalose level in infested larvae was also significantly higher than in their non-infested counterparts - 1.74 ą 0.46 % and 2.23 ą 0.39 % (p < 0.05), respectively. The latter difference may be the result of trehalase activity that was observed to be increased by one-half in infested prepupae. The results suggest that, as a result of Varroa infestation, the rate of saccharide consumption in drone larvae undergoes acceleration. Keywords: drone prepupa, Apis mellifera carnica, Varroa destructor, varroatosis, sugars, trehalose, trehalase. Full text PDF Back to the top THE STRUCTURE OF NECTARIES AND NECTAR SECRETION IN COMMON PEAR (Pyrus communis L.) Agata Konarska, Marzena Masierowska, Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska Department of Botany, Agricultural University, ul. Akademicka 15, 20-950 Lublin. Received 11 April 2005; accepted 22 May 2005 Summary The structure of nectaries of Pyrus communis was examined under light (LM) and scanning electron (SEM) microscopes. The nectar from pear blossom was collected with the pipettes methods and the sugar content in the nectar was determined refractometrically. Situated at the upper part of the floral receptacle, the nectaries of common pear were equally thick along their whole length. Small cells of the secretory tissue, with thick cytoplasm, made up a thick multi-layer which did not have any contact with the vascular tissue. Observations under SEM revealed that the cells of the above-nectary surface were covered with a thick cuticle with distinct lines, while the cuticle covering the nectary was relatively thin and smooth. The nectary epidermis cells were usually polygonal in shape. Numerous open stomata, throughout nectar is secreted, were situated on the bottom of hollows of considerable size. Around the stomata, dried nectar was observed of various shapes and forms. Nectar was secreted for three days. The average amount of the secreted nectar was 2.47 mg with the concentration of sugar of 12.8%. It seems that the location of nectaries in a flower and dilute, quickly drying nectar are the reasons for the low attractiveness of pear flowers to pollinators. Keywords: Pyrus communis, nectary structure, nectar secretion. Full text PDF Back to the top Homepage