Vol.52 No.2 2008 Content Ayoub Zahra, Mahmoud Talal - Impact of pollen supplements and vitamins on the development of hypopharyngeal glands and brood area in honey bees 5 Denisow Bożena - Flowering and pollen production of several f. Brassiceae ornamentals 13 Bieńkowska Małgorzata, Paweł Węgrzynowicz, Beata Panasiuk, Dariusz Gerula, Krzysztof Loc - Influence of the age of honey bee queens and dose of semen on condition of instrumentally inseminated queens kept in cages with 25 worker bees in bee colonies 23 Bąk Jolanta - Bees (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) from chosen plant communites of the Świętokrzyski National Park 35 Piotr Semkiw, Wojciech Skowronek, Dariusz Teper, Piotr Skubida - Changes occurring in honey during ripening under controlled conditions based on pollen analysis and electrical conductivity 45 Beata Panasiuk, Wojciech Skowronek, Małgorzata Bieńkowska - Influence of genotype and method of brood killing on brood removal rate in honey bee 55 Tadeusz Pawlikowski, Tadeusz Barczak, Janina Benewicz - Bees (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) of the agricultural areas in the lower Vistula valley 67 Bożena Denisow - Flowers ecology and pollen output of Symphytum officinale L. 81 Michał Rybak - Effect of venom collection using the method of coupled electrical and sound stimulation on honey yield in bee colonies 91 Grażyna Topolska, Anna Gajda, Aleksandra Hartwig - Polish honey bee colony-loss during the winter of 2007/2008 95 Krystyna Pohorecka, Andrzej Bober - Occurrence of Paenibacillus larvae spores in honey samples domestic apiaries 105 IMPACT OF POLLEN SUPPLEMENTS AND VITAMINS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPOPHARYNGEAL GLANDS AND ON BROOD NUMBER IN HONEY BEES Ayoub Zahra1, Mahmoud Talal1 1 Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Dohuk University, Northern Iraq e-mail: shamdin_hb@yahoo.com Summary The test consisted of a study of pollen supplements and vitamins in the diet of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies in the drought seasons of 2001 and 2002 in northern Iraq. The impact of five different kinds of foods on the hypopharyngeal gland of 8-day-old workers, and the number of brood in the nests was examined. The results showed that in 2001 bees fed with vitamin C have an acini of hypopharyngeal glands wider in comparison to bees given other feedings. The other feedings in 2001 were with multi-vitamins, soya bean flour and skim milk. Bees fed with vitamin C mixed with soya bean flour, and vitamin C mixed with skim milk had an acini of hypopharyngeal glands wider in comparison to other treatments in 2002. In bees fed with multi-vitamins and vitamin C the main ducts of the hypopharyngeal glands were longer than those fed with other supplemental diets in 2001, In 2002 there were no significant changes found on the length of the main duct in bees fed with supplemental diets. Colonies fed with vitamin C, soya bean flour and multi-vitamins produced more broods in the summer of 2001. Colonies fed with vitamin C mixed with soya bean flour and vitamin C mixed with skim milk showed a significant increase in workers' brood in 2002. It can be concluded that vitamin C mixed with soya bean flour can be used as the best choice of supplemental food during drought seasons. Key words: supplemental diets, hypopharyngeal gland, brood, honey bee Full text PDF Back to the top FLOWERING AND POLLEN PRODUCTION OF SEVERAL f. BRASSICACEAE ORNAMENTALS Bożena Denisow Department of Botany, Laboratory of Horticultural Plants BiologyUniversity of Life Sciences in Lublin,15 Akademicka Street, 20-950 Lublin, Poland. Received 07 May 2008; accepted 23 October 2008 Summary Observations of blooming biology and pollen output were carried out in 2002-2004 in Lublin, Poland. Several perennial Brassicaceae ornamentals were chosen: Arabis caucasica Wild. ex Schltdl., Arabis procurrens Waldst. et Kit, Aubrieta x hybrida Bergm ('Gloriosa' and 'Blue Emperor'), Iberis sempervirens L., Alyssum saxatile L. (= Aurine saxatilis (L.) Desf.). Methods accepted in bee botany were applied (Jabłoński and Szklanowska 1997, Warakomska 1972, Szklanowska 1995). The studied ornamentals bloomed between the second decade of April till the first days of June. Most flowers opened in the early morning. By 8:00 (GMT + 2 h) approx. 50% of Arabis spp. flowers had bloomed. Over 85% of Aubrieta x hybrida flowers had opened before 11:00 h. Alyssum saxatile, Arabis procurrens and Iberis sempervirens bloomed the most abundantly. Under good weather conditions these three species developed over 60 thousands flowers per 10 m2. In all the species studied the number of flowers decreased considerably if the average air temperature during winter or early spring dropped significantly. The water content of the anthers depended primarily on the amount of rainfall before and during blooming. Iberis sempervirens had 1.16 mg of pollen per 100 anthers. Aubrieta x hybrida 'Blue Emperor' produced 6.68 mg of pollen per 100 anthers. Anthers of Arabis procurrens and A. caucasica, are comparable in size but produced a significantly different percentage of pollen, thus deliver 1.16 mg and 2.97 mg of pollen per 100 anthers, respectively. The average pollen efficiency was from 2.72 g (Arabis procurrens) to 8.86 g (Aubrieta x hybrida 'Blue Emperor') per 10 m-2. Keywords: flowering, pollen production, Brassicaceae. Full text PDF Back to the top INFLUENCE OF THE AGE OF HONEY BEE QUEENS AND DOSE OF SEMEN ON CONDITION OF INSTRUMENTALLY INSEMINATED QUEENS KEPT IN CAGES WITH 25 WORKER BEES IN BEE COLONIES Małgorzata Bieńkowska1, Paweł Węgrzynowicz1, Beata Panasiuk1, Dariusz Gerula1, Krzysztof Loc2 1Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division, Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland E-mail: malgorzata.bienkowska@man.pulawy.pl2Honeybee Breeding Apiary, Teodorów 57, 08-114 Skórzec Received 19 May 2008; accepted 02 December 2008 Summary The study was done in the Department of Bee Breeding in the Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division in Puławy, Poland. It was done in July and August of 2006 and 2007. The aim of the research was to determine the age of queens when inseminated and the dose of semen used in insemination. The condition of the oviducts and the filling of the spermatheca were determined. Queens 5, 7 or 10 days old were inseminated with 6, 8, or 10 ěl of semen collected from free flying Caucasian drones. In both years, 1027 queens were inseminated and dissected. Altogether 80.3% of inseminated queens had cleared oviducts, 16.6% had some residue of semen, and 3.1% died. Significantly more queens which were inseminated at the age of 7 and 10 days had cleared the oviducts (82.3 and 86.2% respectively) compared to 5-day-old ones (72.4%). Among the 5 days old, 23.8% queens had some residue of semen. The losses of queens 5, 7 and 10 day-old were 48 hours after insemination similar (3.8, 3.2 and 2.3% respectively). Queens that cleared their oviducts had on an average 3.199 mln spermatozoa in the spermatheca. A significantly higher number of spermatozoa in the spermatheca (average 3.4 mln) was found in a group of queens that were inseminated at the age of 5 days. A lower number of spermatozoa was found in queens that were inseminated at the age of 7 and 10 days, regardless of the dose of semen. It was stated that most of the queens had from 3 mln to 4.5 mln of spermatozoa in their spermatheca. The highest percent of queens that had more than 4.5 mln of spermatozoa in their spermatheca was found in all the groups of queens that were inseminated as at the age of 5 days. Unfortunately as much as 25% of queens inseminated at the age of 5 days did not clear their oviducts and it is expected that they may die within a few days after the treatment. For that reason these queens should not be distributed among the beekeepers. Full text PDF Back to the top BEES (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) FROM CHOSEN PLANT COMMUNITIES OF THE ŚWIĘTOKRZYSKI NATIONAL PARK Jolanta Bąk Institute of Biology, Jan Kochanowski University, Świętokrzyska 15, 25-406 Kielce, Poland, E-mail: jolanta.bak@ujk.kielce.pl Received 24 July 2008; accepted 08 October 2008 Summary The bees were collected from April till September of 2001 and 2002, in 12 research localities. This research was carried out in natural, semi-natural and synanthropic plant communities of the Świętokrzyski National Park. The aim of the research was to assess the assemblage structure of bees (excluding genera of Bombus Latr. and Psithyrus Lep.) in anthropogenically differentiated plant communities. Altogether 81 species of Apoidea were found in the research localities. As much as 20 of them have not been reported to have been found in the Świętokrzyski National Park yet. Species from the Andrenidae (32.4%) and Halictidae (30.5%) families were most prevalent in the chosen plant communities. Due to using Moerick's traps in two colours were used. They provided high Apoidea catches. The white traps were used in forests and the yellow traps were used in open habitats. The traps in the forest undergrowth and those hung at 1.5 m were more often visited by the insects. Qualitative and quantitative assemblage analysis showed and proved a higher stability of bee assemblages from semi-natural and natural habitats than from synanthropic habitats. Keywords: bees, Apiformes, assemblage structure, plant communities, the Świętokrzyski National Park. Full text PDF Back to the top CHANGES OCCURRING IN HONEY DURING RIPENING UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS BASED ON POLLEN ANALYSIS AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY Piotr Semkiw, Wojciech Skowronek, Dariusz Teper, Piotr Skubida Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division, Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland; E-mail: piotr.semkiw@man.pulawy.pl Received 06 October 2008; accepted 04 November 2008 Summary The objective of the study was to determine the effect of honey ripening under controlled conditions on selected quality parameters. Those selected quality parameters were: the percentage of dominant pollen and specific electrical conductivity. The experiment took place over the course of 3 years. 79 samples of unripe honey were collected. This unripe honey was to be subsequently dehydrated in a specially designed chamber. 74 samples of in- hive ripe honey were also collected. Palynological analysis showed the average content of dominant pollen in unripe honey samples was 63.8%. In honey allowed to remain in the hive until fully ripe the content of dominant pollen dropped to 46.4%. Average differences in the values of electrical conductivity between dehydrated honey and conventionally (in-hive ripened) harvested honey usually did not exceed 0.5 10-4 S ˇ cm-1. Keywords: honey, ripening honey, dominant pollen, palynological analysis of honey, electrical conductivity of honey. Full text PDF Back to the top INFLUENCE OF GENOTYPE AND METHOD OF BROOD KILLING ON BROOD REMOVAL RATE IN HONEY BEE Beata Panasiuk, Wojciech Skowronek, Małgorzata Bieńkowska Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland, e-mail: beata.panasiuk@man.pulawy.pl Summary The study was done in the Department of Bee Breeding in the Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, the Apiculture Division in Puławy in 2004 and 2005. Bee colonies of two populations presenting different hygienic behavior were used. The colonies were tested using assays of bee brood killed by freezing, pinning and inoculating with spores of Ascosphaera apis. Significant differences were found in the rate of removing dead brood. Bees performing high hygienic behaviour removed all dead brood within 204 hours. Bees with low hygienic behaviour removed dead brood within 250 hours. Both bee populations, recognized and removed significantly faster pin-killed brood (120 hours), then inoculated with A. apis spores and freeze-killed brood (respectively 204 and 250 hours). Keywords: Hygienic behaviour, genetic conditionings, freeze-killing, Ascosphaera apis inoculating, pin-killing, cleaning rate Full text PDF Back to the top BEES (HYMENOPTERA: Apiformes) OF THE AGRICULTURAL AREAS IN THE LOWER VISTULA VALLEY* Tadeusz Pawlikowski1, Tadeusz Barczak2, Janina Bennewicz2 1 Institute of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Gagarina 9, 87-100 Toruń, Poland. E-mail: pawlik@biol.uni.torun.pl2 Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology, University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz, Kordeckiego 20, 85-225 Bydgoszcz, Poland. E-mail: tadbar@utp.edu.pl Received 13 October 2008; accepted 03 November 2008 Summary The research took place over a time span of two seasons. It was conducted in the Lower Vistula valley between the towns of Toruń and Chełmno. There 144 species were recorded, which is, ca. 33% of all the species recorded in Poland, as well as 58% of the species recorded in the Kujawy-Pomerania region. From 35 to 88 bee species were recorded at six research locations. Diversity of bee communities in marginal environments of agricultural areas of the Lower Vistula valley, was found. A significant factor influencing bee diversity was the process of habitat diversification of their nutritional vegetation. This factor remained under the influence of the xerisation gradient. A directly proportional relationship was revealed between the diversity of bee communities and the general diversity of marginal habitats in agricultural areas. Domination-species analysis according to the Renkonen index, described the structure at similar level to be two times higher (=more accurate) as compared to the species method according to the Marczewski-Steinhaus index. Keywords: Apiformes, bee communities, agricultural areas, valley landscape, Lower Vistula. Full text PDF Back to the top FLOWERS ECOLOGY AND POLLEN OUTPUT OF Symphytum officinale L. Bożena Denisow Department of Botany, Laboratory of Horticultural Plants Biology,University of Life Sciences in Lublin Akademicka 15, 20-950 Lublin, Poland Received 17 October 2008; accepted 03 November 2008 Summary Observations and measurements of Symphytum officinale L. were taken in meadows of the Lublin area, in the district of Sławin (51°18' N and 21°32' E) in the years 2006-2007. The surface of the corolla is densely covered with non-glandular and a few glandular trichomes with lipids. The scales situated between stamen heads are densely covered by one-cell trichomes. The apical part of the hair cells is rich in lipids. The inflorescence of Symphytum officinale consists of 14.65 flowers on average, with 2-7 open at any one time. The mean mass of pollen delivered was 9.87 mg per 100 anthers. The mean mass of pollen produced in anthers averaged 27.15% of the total dry anther weight. The amount of pollen delivered per inflorescence was 9.26 mg. The estimated magnitude of pollen flow in successive flowering stages differs and is 0.17 kg per 1 ha in the initial phase of blooming. At full bloom Symphytum officinale yield from 6.50 to 17.64 kg per 1 ha of the community. Towards the end of the flowering period the estimated pollen flow is 2.95 kg per 1 ha, on average. The dominant pollinators of Symphytum officinale were different Bombus spp. The taxon is the spring source of nectar and pollen. Besides sugars and proteins, it is highly probable that lipids are important attractants. Symphytum officinale should be also considered as a supplementary source of food for Apis mellifera. Honeybees mainly collect nectar using the holes made by bumblebees in the base of the corolla. A direct access to the flow, however, is often used by Apis mellifera or Bombus spp. Keywords: blooming, flower morphology, pollen production, Symphytum officinale. Full text PDF Back to the top EFFECT OF VENOM COLLECTION USING THE METHOD OF COUPLED ELECTRICAL AND SOUND STIMULATION ON HONEY YIELD IN BEE COLONIES Michał Rybak Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division, Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland, e-mail: michlr@man.pulawy.pl Received 18 October 2008; accepted 01 December 2008 Summary This study was undertaken in 1998-2001 in the apiaries of the Apiculture Division, of the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, in Puławy, Poland. The study was undertaken to identify whether honeybee venom collection by means of coupled electrical and sound stimulation, affected honey production in honeybee colonies. The production of honey was compared between colonies subjected to venom collection and control colonies. Each group was made up of 10 honeybee colonies settled in storey hives. Venom was collected three times over the apiarian season: around the 15th of June, the 30th of June and the 15th of July. The results obtained demonstrated that the mean yield of honey, obtained only from colonies in which venom was collected using the method of coupled electrical and sound stimulation, was not significantly different than the yield of honey recorded in control colonies. Keywords: honeybee venom, electrical stimulation, sound stimulation, honey yield Full text PDF Back to the top POLISH HONEY BEE COLONY-LOSS DURING THE WINTER OF 2007/2008 Grażyna Topolska, Anna Gajda, Aleksandra Hartwig Warsaw Agricultural University - SGGW, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences,Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland,e-mail: grazyna_topolska@sggw.pl Received 21 October 2008; accepted 14 November 2008 Summary During the winter of 2007/2008 beekeepers from most regions of Poland reported extraordinary bee colony losses. The aim of this work was to investigate the extent of this problem and point out possible causes. We analysed 431 questionnaires completed by beekeepers. Questions concerned the number of colonies that had been prepared for wintering in the autumn of 2006 and 2007 and the number of colonies which survived the winter of 2006/2007 and 2007/2008. The investigations pertained to about 1% of the beekeeper population and to 3% of bee colonies in Poland. We investigated 448 dead bee samples and 15 capped brood samples (from collapsed or almost collapsed colonies). These were sent by 104 beekeepers from October 2007 to April 2008. The samples were examined mainly for Varroa destructor, Nosema spp., as well as bees with deformed wings, acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and sacbrood virus (SBV). The collected data indicate that in Poland the colony loss during the winter of 2007/2008 (15.3%) was significantly higher than during the winter of 2006/2007 (9.9%). The mean colony loss for an apiary was 15.9%. The highest percentage of beekeepers (22.9%) who lost 30(+) percent of their colonies was within the group which had 21 to 50 colonies. The problem of colony loss seemed to be more serious in Zachodniopomorskie and Wielkopolskie. These are provinces with fewer (10 - 20) cold winter days (Tmax < 0°C) (Lorenc 2005) than in the provinces of Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Pomorskie which generally have more cold days. The investigation of the samples revealed a "Varroa problem" (severe V. destructor infestation, bees with deformed wings or ABPV infection detected) in 55% of the apiaries. In 32% of the apiaries a severe Nosema spp. infection was detected. We were not able to determine the possible causes of colony losses in about one third of the apiaries. Keywords: honey bee colony-loss, winter 2007/2008, Poland, questionnaire, dead bees. Full text PDF Back to the top OCCURRENCE OF PAENIBACILLUS LARVAE SPORES IN HONEY SAMPLES DOMESTIC APIARIES Krystyna Pohorecka1,2, Andrzej Bober1 1Department of Parasitology, National Veterinary Research Institute, PuławyApiculture Division, 2Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Puławye-mail: krystyna.pohorecka@man.pulawy.pl Received 24 October 2008; accepted 26 November 2008 Summary The American foulbrood (AFB) Histolysis infectiosa perniciosa larvae apium is an infectious and highly contagious disease of honey bee brood (Apis mellifera) and other Apis species. Recognition of the AFB in apiaries should be confirmed with laboratory tests. These are tests used in detection of the Paenibacillus larvae presence in infected brood. Tests of honey (food stores) for presence of the Paenibacillus larvae can detect the infection in bee colonies before the outbreak of the disease and its clinical symptoms. The aim of the research from the years 2005 and 2007 was to do an introductory assessment of the Paenibacillus larvae presence in apiaries based on tests of honey samples. A total of 242 honey samples were tested. In microbiological tests, cultivation and microscope methods were employed. In 2005, among 142 samples analysed, 34 were positive for Paenibacillus larvae. That was 23% of the total. The same percentage of infected samples was found in 2007 (from 100 tests 23 were positive). Levels of infection varied. The numbers of spores in 1 gram of honey fluctuated from 10 to over 1000. Keywords: American foulbrood, Paenibacillus larvae, spores, diagnostics, honey samples. Full text PDF Back to the top Homepage