Vol.51 No.2 2007 Content Dariusz Gerula - Observations of body injuries of artificially inseminated honeybee queens inflicted in the subsequent stages of rearing and during their introduction into colonies 5 Dharam Pal Abrol - Foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana F. as determined by the energetics of nectar production in different cultivars of Brassica campestris var. toria 19 Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska, Mirosława Chwil - Characteristics of floral nectary and nectar of common bugloss (Anchusa officinalis L.) 25 Algirdas Skirkevičius, Algimantas Rukšenas - The influence of honey on (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid content in the alimentary canal of worker bees (Apis mellifera L.) 31 Egils Stalidzans, Zigurds Markovics, Armands Krauze, Valdis Bilinskis, Almars Berzonis - Modelling of bee wintering building profitability 39 Bożena Chuda-Mickiewicz, Jarosław Prabucki, Jerzy Samborski, Piotr Rostecki - Evaluation of varroacidal efficacy of Biowar preparation 47 Dariusz Teper - Food plants of the red mason bee (Osmia rufa L.) determined based on a palynological analysis of faeces 55 Michał Rybak, Piotr Skubida - Application of coupled electrical and sound stimulation for honeybee venom collection 63 Zbigniew Kołtowski - Degree of utilization of potential sugar yield of a rapeseed plantation by insects in respect of rapeseed honey yield in an apiary 67 OBSERVATIONS OF BODY INJURIES OF ARTIFICIALLY INSEMINATED HONEYBEE QUEENS INFLICTED IN THE SUBSEQUENT STAGES OF REARING AND DURING THEIR INTRODUCTION INTO COLONIES Dariusz Gerula Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division, ul Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland, E-mail: dariusz.gerula@man.pulawy.pl Received 06 February 2007; accepted 23 November 2007 Summary This paper analyses the production technology (rearing) of artificially inseminated honeybee queens in case of occurance of body injuries and queen losses as well as determination of the effect of body mass and rearing period of the queens on bee susceptibility to their injuries. Observations were made on 7272 queens, by controlling their condition four times under a microscope, from the emergence from a queen-cell to introduction into a bee colony, after each contact of queens with bees unfamiliar to them. The observations were carried out in 4 stages on a different number of the queens: stage I was from leaving a queen-cell to queen insemination, stage II from insemination to the second CO2 narcosis, stage III from the second CO2 narcosis till the queens' introduction into nucleuses, and stage IV from the introduction till the acceptance of the queens in bee colonies. Injured queens (n=579) were divided into groups with similar injuries, i.e. queens with injuries of arolium and claws (44.2% of total injured), queens with paralyzed legs (18.8%), and queens with missing parts of legs (32.0%). Sporadically, queens with injured antennae and those with injured wings were observed, i.e. 2.9% and 2.1% of injured queens, respectively. The frequency of injuries of the queens, as well as their mortality rate increased in the subsequent stages of production. The lowest number of injured queens was reported in stages I and II (2.0% and 4.0%, respectively), slightly higher in stage III - 13.0%, whereas the highest one (32.7%) was in the last, stage IV. In the case of queens reared in the period from May till July, the frequency of injuries was similar in each month. Their mortality rate was at a similar level as well. The term of queen introduction into colonies had no significant effect on the percentage of injured queens during their acceptance. The worst results of queen introduction were obtained in June (29.4% of unaccepted queens), whereas in the other months, the percentage of unaccepted queens ranged from 6.7% to 8.9% of the queens. Some of the queens (n=2784) were weighed before insemination in order to determine the relationship between their body mass and the possibility of their injury. It turned out that body mass did not affect either the susceptibility of bees to injuries or their mortality rate. Keywords: honeybee queen, injuries of queens, insemination, body mass of queens, queen rearing, queen introduction. Full text PDF Back to the top FORAGING BEHAVIOUR OF Apis mellifera L. AND Apis cerana F. AS DETERMINED BY THE ENERGETICS OF NECTAR PRODUCTION IN DIFFERENT CULTIVARS OF Brassica campestris var. toria Dharam Pal Abrol Division of Entomology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Udheywalla, Jammu 180 002, Jammu & Kashmir, India. E-mail: dharam_abrol@rediffmail.com Received 22 February 2007; accepted 19 June 2007 Summary Twenty-four cultivars of Brassica campestris var. toria were examined for their nectar secretion characteristics, nectar sugar concentration, amount of sugar and energy per flower per day in relation to their attractiveness to honeybees Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana F. The volume of nectar produced ranged from a minimum of 0.052 l to a maximum of 0.120 l per flower per day. Nectar sugar concentration ranged between 36.0-43.8% and the amount of sugar ranged between 0.0198-0.0504 mg per flower per day. The energy reward varied from a minimum of 0.330 joules to a maximum of 0.845 joules per flower per day. The number of bees per 1 m2 ranged between 4.0-12.0 and 2.6-10.2 in the case of A. mellifera and A. cerana, respectively in different cultivars of Brassica. These variations were found to be significantly and positively correlated with the foraging populations of honeybees, Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana F. The results suggest that cultivars with higher caloric rewards had a competitive edge over others in attracting foraging populations and, consequently, in pollination. Keywords: honeybee, Apis mellifera, Apis cerana, Brassica campestris var. toria, energy, pollination, nectar. Full text PDF Back to the top CHARACTERISTICS OF FLORAL NECTARY AND NECTAR OF COMMON BUGLOSS (Anchusa officinalis L.) Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska, Mirosława Chwil Department of Botany, Agricultural University, Akademicka 15, 20-950 Lublin, Poland. E-mail: elzbieta.weryszko@ar.lublin.pl Received 06 April 2007; accepted 17 July 2007 Summary This study was pointed to the distribution, micromorphology of nectary and nectar secretion of Anchusa officinalis L. flowers. Observations of floral nectary structure were carried out with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The mass of nectar produced over a flower's life span and sugars concentration in the nectar were determined. Flowers of Anchusa officinalis were eagerly visited by honeybees. The gland of Anchusa officinalis that secretes nectar is located at the base of the ovary and consists of 4 parts. No stomata were found in the epidermis of the nectary. The secretion of nectar proceeded through outer cell walls of the epidermis. Some cells with collapsed walls resembled the stomata. Flowers secreted nectar with sugars concentration of 61%, and the sugar yield of 10 flowers accounted for 4.69 mg. Keywords: floral nectary, micromorphology, nectar mass, sugar concentration, sugar efficiency, Anchusa officinalis L., Boraginaceae. Full text PDF Back to the top THE INFLUENCE OF HONEYON (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid CONTENT INTHE ALIMENTARY CANAL OF WORKER BEES(Apis mellifera L.) Algirdas Skirkevičius*, Algimantas Rukđënas** * Department of Zoology, Vilnius Pedagogical University, Studentu 39, LT-2034, Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: algskirk@ktl.mii.lt** Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Vilnius University, Naugarduko 24, LT-03225, Vilnius, Lithuania. Received 24 April 2007; accepted 23 October 2007 Summary This study examines honey influence on (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid (9-ODA) content in the alimentary canal of worker bees and its mechanism. It was tested on more than 40 samples with 10-20 worker bees in every sample. The 9-ODA analysis was carried out using gas chromatography. The results demonstrate that feeding and type of food influence the content of 9-ODA in the alimentary canal of worker bees that lick the queen. Honey decreases the content of 9-ODA both in vivo and in vitro and the process proceeds rather rapidly: in vivo, the 9-ODA content decreases to 15% in 20 min and in vitro to 63.5% in 5 min. The temperature inactivates the substance (or substances) and decreases the content of 9-ODA in honey. The alimentary canal of worker bees does not secrete a substance (or substances) to influence the content of 9-ODA in it. Keywords: Apis mellifera L., worker bee, queen, mandibular gland, pheromone, (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid, 9-ODA, enzyme, honey, alimentary canal. Full text PDF Back to the top MODELLING OF BEE WINTERINGBUILDING PROFITABILITY Egils Stalidzans*,**,***, Zigurds Markovics**,Armands Krauze****, Valdis Bilinskis*****,Almars Berzonis***** * Biosystems Group, Faculty of Information Technology,Latvia University of Agriculture, Liela iela 2, Jelgava LV 3001, Latvia.** Institute of Computer Control, Automatics and Computer Technology,Riga Technical University, Meza iela 1, Riga LV 1048, Latvia.*** SIA TIBIT, Rigas iela 52, Jelgavas rajons, Ozolnieku pagasts LV 3018, Latvia.**** Horticultural Department, Latvia University of Agriculture, Liela iela 2, Jelgava LV 3001, Latvia.***** SIA LAETA, beekeeping company "Zvirgzdi" Vaidavas pag., Valmieras raj. LV 4227, Latvia. Received 15 June 2007; accepted 29 October 2007 Summary A model for determining indoor wintering profitability was constructed using the program POWERSIM 2.51. The necessary heating or cooling power (N) to keep the target temperature in the wintering building is calculated using the equation N = NB + NV1 - NS - NG, where NB-metabolic power of bees, NV1-power of recirculation fan, NS-power lost through walls by heat transmission, NG-power to warm-up the incoming air. NB depends on the air temperature in the wintering building. The main input variables are air temperature and humidity outdoors, size of wintering building (number of colonies), capacity of heating and cooling systems, electricity costs, coefficient of heat transfer (CHT) of wintering building. Output parameters are savings of consumed honey and physiological bee resources compared to reference group of bee colonies wintered outside. It was assumed that each 600 mg of saved honey means the additional saving of physiological potential of one new-born bee. As a simulation, samples of the efficiency of indoor wintering in Manitoba (Canada) and Riga (Latvia) are compared. Keywords: wintering building, modelling, physiological potential Full text PDF Back to the top EVALUATION OF VARROACIDAL EFFICACY OF BIOWAR PREPARATION Bożena Chuda-Mickiewicz, Jarosław Prabucki, Jerzy Samborski, Piotr Rostecki Apiculture Department, Agricultural University in Szczecin, ul. Doktora Judyma 20, 74-466 Szczecin, Poland. E-mail:bozena.chuda-mickiewicz@biot.ar.szczecin.pl Received 30 August 2007; accepted 31 October 2007 Summary In the years 2005-2006, in an apiary of the Apicultural Department of the Agricultural University in Szczecin, a study was conducted into the efficacy of V. destructor invasion control with a Biowar preparation (s.a. amitraz). The first year of the study covered 10, and the second year covered 14 colonies living in Wielkopolski-type hives (frame 360x260 mm in size). Since 2005, the varroacidal effectiveness of Biowar was determined based on the extent of acarina mitefall in each colony, during Biowar exposure and control application of Apifos (s.a. bromfenwinfos). In 2006, two methods of evaluation were applied, namely: the above-mentioned one and another based on the intensity of bee infestation with mites before and after the removal of Biowar strips. The effectiveness of Biowar was assessed based on the extent of mitefall and accounted for 87.81% in 2005 and for 81.07% in 2006, whereas that determined in the same year based on bee infestation with mites before and after the treatment was by 5.35 % lower and was more diversified in colonies. Keywords: amitraz, effectiveness, Varroa destructor, honey bee Full text PDF Back to the top FOOD PLANTS OF THE RED MASON BEE (Osmia rufa L.) DETERMINED BASED ON A PALYNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF FAECES Dariusz Teper Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division.ul. Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland. E-mail: dariusz.teper@man.pulawy.pl Received 15 September 2007; accepted 12 November 200 Summary Samples of faeces to be analyzed were collected in the years 2003-2004. To this end, each day after dark over the entire flight period of red mason bees, their colonies were covered, from the side of tube outlets, with an isolator made of a fine screen. The next day, while trying to exit, the bees swarmed the isolator and excreted faeces onto its surface. Microscopic preparations were made that were then subjected to a palynological analysis. In the two years of the experiments, a total of 56 samples of faeces were collected, in which 34 types of pollen of plants were identified belonging to 22 families. Most of the identified types of pollen originated from nectariferous species, yet as many as 29% (10 species) belonged to taxa providing insects mainly with pollen. They also included anemophilous trees - Fagus, Juglans, Pinus, Quercus as well as weeds - Plantago and Rumex. A small part of the pollen was not possible to be determined due to the considerable extent of its degradation in the process of digestion. Based on the results of a palynological analysis, a food supply sequence of Osmia rufa was prepared for each experimental year. Keywords: Osmia rufa, food plants, pollen analysis of faeces, digestion of pollen Full text PDF Back to the top APPLICATION OF COUPLED ELECTRICAL AND SOUND STIMULATION FOR HONEYBEE VENOM COLLECTION Michał Rybak, Piotr Skubida Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division, ul. Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland. E-mail: michlr@man.pulawy.pl Received 28 September 2007; accepted 24 October 2007 Summary In the years 1998-2001, in apiaries of the Apiculture Division, Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, a study was undertaken to evaluate the efficiency of honeybee venom collection by means of coupled electrical and sound stimulation as compared to standard electrical stimulation as elaborated earlier. Venom was recovered simultaneously from five colonies with a similar strength. In three of them, both standard stimulation with electrical impulses and sound stimuli emitted through loudspeakers mounted on venom storeys were used; whereas in the two others use was only made of the standard stimulation with electrical impulses. In each experimental year, venom collection was carried out in three terms, in 14-day intervals. The results obtained in the experiment enabled concluding that the application of coupled electrical and sound stimulation for venom collection yielded a significantly higher mass of venom as compared to that recovered with the use of electrical stimulation only. When expressed in percent, the mean mass of venom collected at single treatment from one honeybee colony was higher by 86% with the application of the coupled electrical and sound stimulation. Keywords: honeybee venom, electrical stimulation, sound stimulation. Full text PDF Back to the top DEGREE OF UTILIZATION OF POTENTIAL SUGAR YIELD OF A RAPESEED PLANTATION BY INSECTS IN RESPECT OF RAPESEED HONEY YIELD IN AN APIARY 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 18 October 2007; accepted 05 November 2007 Summary In the years 2002-2004, plantations of rapeseed were investigated for their sugar potential, intensity of visitation by pollinating insects and a degree of utilization of their nectar flow by insects. In addition, an assessment was carried out for rapeseed honey yield in apiaries adjacent to rapeseed plantations. The research demonstrated that on production plantations examined, winter rapeseed burst into blossom in the last week of April or in the first week of May and its blooming season spanned 3 to 4 weeks on average. On those plantations, plants were observed to grow 149 cm in height on average, whereas at particular plantations their height ranged from 129 to 187 cm. On average, there were 72 plants per 1 m2 (range from 32 to 121), that had an average number of 7 branches (from 5 to 7). Abundance of blooming reached 10,300 flowers on average, at fluctuations ranging from 6,500 to over 14,000 flowers. On all plantations, nectar secretion of the plants was very good and reached 10.47 mg of sugar per 10 flowers on average (range: from 6.44 to 13.76 mg). The mean sugar potential of a plantation accounted for ca. 105 kg of sugars per 1 ha, with a minimum of 42.4 kg and a maximum of 156.1 kg. The intensity of flower visitation by honeybees ranged from 7 to 28 working bees per 10 m2 of plantation and was not affected by the size of plantation, the sugar potential of a cultivar or by the number of bee colonies per 1 ha. In turn, the intensity of foraging was found to influence the degree of nectar utilization by bees and accounted on average for nearly 82%, fluctuating between 76 and 93%. In the surveyed apiaries, even in those standing in the proximity of the same plantation, the mean yield of rapeseed honey from one colony varied significantly from 0 to 27 kg. This clearly indicates that the sugar potential of rapeseed does no determine the yield of honey in an apiary. Keywords: rapeseed, nectar secretion, sugar potential, foraging intensity, honey yield Full text PDF Back to the top Homepage