Vol.53 No.2 2009 Content Jerzy Wilde, Janusz Bratkowski, Maciej Siuda - Brood and bee production in honey bee colonies in the Warmia and Mazury region of Poland 5 Maciej Howis, Piotr Nowakowski - Varroa destructor removal efficiency using Beevital Hive Clean preparation 15 Shailja Mishra, R.C. Sihag - Efficacy of some repellent chemicals against two honeybee species, Apis mellifera L. and Apis florea F. in field trials 21 Adel Mazeed, Kaspar Bienefeld - Does the duration of the pre oviposition period of honeybee queens affect the honey production of colonies? 31 Teresa Szczęsna, Helena Rybak-Chmielewska, Ewa Waś, Krystyna Pohorecka - Study on sulphonamide residues in honey 39 Teresa Szczęsna, Helena Rybak-Chmielewska, Ewa Waś, Piotr Skubida - Water determination in bee products using the Karl Fischer titration method 49 Anna Wróblewska, Zofia Warakomska - Pollen analysis of honey from Poland's Lubelszczyzna regions 57 Grzegorz Borsuk - Influence of increased division of labour among worker bees on dead brood removal 69 Krzysztof Olszewski - Assessment of production traits in the Buckfast bee 79 Bożena Chuda-Mickiewicz, Jarosław Prabucki, Jerzy Samborski, Piotr Rostecki - The role of phytohormones in instrumental insemination of queen bees 91 Jerzy Paleolog - Honeybee queen docility noticed during queen duels 97 Dariusz Gerula, Adam Tofilski, Paweł Węgrzynowicz, Wojciech Skowronek - Computer-assisted discrimination of honeybee subspecies used for breeding in Poland 105 Dariusz Teper, Mieczysław Biliński - Red mason bee (Osmia rufa L.) as a pollinator of rape plantations 115 BROOD AND BEE PRODUCTION IN HONEY BEE COLONIES IN THE WARMIA AND MAZURY REGION OF POLAND Jerzy Wilde, Janusz Bratkowski, Maciej Siuda Summary The experiment was conducted from 2005 to 2007 at the apiary of Apiculture Department, WM University in Olsztyn. Colonies of Apis melliffera carnica were divided into 3 groups. Group I - traditional management, without any additional feeding. Group II - colonies were fed regularly and only brood combs were removed. Group III - colonies were fed regularly. The combs of brood covered with bees were removed every 14 days. The highest area of brood was produced every year by Group III, (258.1 dm2, 161.6 dm2 and 145.0 dm2) with an average of 188.2 dm2. In the two experimental groups II and III, the amount of brood was significantly lower in the 2nd and 3rd year of the investigations. The highest bee production (2.0 kg) was observed in Group III. We found that the production of brood and bees significantly reduced honey production. However, additional production of brood and bees enlarge the total production of honey bee colonies. Keywords: brood comb, worker bee, honey, total production Full text PDF Back to the top Varroa destructor REMOVAL EFFICIENCY USING BEEVITAL HIVE CLEAN PREPARATION Maciej Howis, Piotr Nowakowski Summary The efficacy of the removal of Varroa destructor mites with the use of the ecological preparation Beevital Hive Clean (Austria) was determined in 10 colonies after triple application every seven days from Septpember to October in 2008. Mite fall in each colony was monitored for 3 weeks in consecutive day-periods after preparation application. Number of bees per colony as well as number of mites per 100 bees were estimated in November. Based on the number of mites which remained in the colonies for wintering, the efficacy of Beevital Hive Clean was calculated to be on the average of 91.6% (from 85.3 to 100.0% in single colonies). Keywords: Varroa destructor, honey bee, Beevital Hive Clean, preparation efficiency Full text PDF Back to the top EFFICACY OF SOME REPELLENT CHEMICALS AGAINST TWO HONEYBEE SPECIES, Apis mellifera L. AND Apis florea F. IN FIELD TRIALS Shailja Mishra, R.C. Sihag Summary Fifteen chemicals belonging to three different groups, viz., phenols, aldehydes and ketones at 0.5% concentration were tested for 3 hours for their repellency against two honeybee species viz. Apis mellifera and Apis florea under field conditions on mustard crop (Brassica juncea). Out of these, only three chemicals viz. p-bromophenol, m-bromoacetophenone and 3, 4, 5- trimethoxyacetophenone showed the repellency close to the desired level of 80% for 3 hours against both the honeybee species. These chemicals are recommended for their use as repellents in the fields for the safety of honeybees against pesticides. Keywords: Apis florea, Apis mellifera, pollination, pesticides, repellents Full text PDF Back to the top DOES THE DURATION OF THE PRE OVIPOSITION PERIOD OF HONEYBEE QUEENS AFFECT THE HONEY PRODUCTION OF COLONIES? Adel Mazeed, Kaspar Bienefeld Summary On the basis of data from The Breeding Evaluation Centre in Germany, data of the pre oviposition period (POP) of honey bee queens were collected from 3648 colonies over 19 years at 25 mating stations and from 64 bee breeders. Generally, the pre oviposition period of the tested queens lasted from 6 to 34 days with an average of 15.8 days. About 80.1% started egg laying 8 to 18 days after emergence. The length of POP varied significantly among years and months and among different queen bee breeders. Both, the type of mating and the mating location significantly affected POP. Artificially inseminated queens had the significant highest value (17.6 days) of POP in comparison with naturally mated queens at island- (15.4 days) and land-mating (14.9 days) stations. The relationship between POP and honey production of bee colonies was not found to be significant. Thus, the pre oviposition period is highly affected by environmental factors but provides no information concerning the potential of the queens. Keywords: Apis mellifera, queen, pre oviposition period, honey production, egg laying Full text PDF Back to the top STUDY ON SULPHONAMIDE RESIDUES IN HONEY Teresa Szczęsna, Helena Rybak-Chmielewska, Ewa Waś, Krystyna Pohorecka Summary The aim of the study was to optimise and validate the procedure for sulphonamide residue analyses in honey by HPLC with fluorescence detector. Separation, identification and quantity analysis of sulphonamides in honey were done after synthesis of these compound derivatives with fluorescamine. Procedure of the validation was done by calculation of: detection and quantification limits, repeatability, reproducibility and recovery for each analysed sulphonamide in honey. Hydrolysis parameters (temperature, mixing conditions) of sugar-sulfonamide bonded derivatives for improvement of repeatability and recovery were also determined. Phenomenex Synergi 4ľ Fusion HPLC column and chromatographic conditions applied in these studies allowed for satisfactory separation of 4-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), which occurs in some kinds of honey, from sulfamethazine and simultaneous analysis of the following sulfonamides: sulfanilamide, sulfathiazole, sulfacetamide, sulfamethazine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethoxypyridazine, sulfachloropyridazine, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimethoxine. Detection and quantification limits for all investigated sulphonamides were calculated on 0.2 and 0.3 ľg/kg, respectively. In routine analysis quantification limit was settled at 5 ľg/kg. Recovery ranged from 37 for sulfacetamide to 93% for sulfanilamide. The coefficient of variation of repeatability ranged from 1.4 for sulfacetamide to 8.1% for sulfadimethoxine and of within- laboratory reproducibility - from 5.1 for sulfanilamide to 16.8% for sulfamethoxypyridazine. Over 2-year period (2007-2008), 241 commercial honey samples were sent to the Bee Products Quality Testing Laboratory. Forty-one of them (17%) contained sulphonamides on a higher level than quantification limit established by the Polish National Monitoring Program for honey (50 ľg/kg). Most of these samples were contaminated by three sulphonamides: sulfathiazole, sulfacetamide and sulfamethazine. These results show that Polish beekeepers still use Polisulfamid and other sulphonamide drugs in their beekeeping practices. Keywords: honey, sulphonamides, residues, method, HPLC Full text PDF Back to the top WATER DETERMINATION IN BEE PRODUCTS USING THE KARL FISCHER TITRATION METHOD Szczęsna Teresa, Rybak-Chmielewska Helena, Waś Ewa, Skubida Piotr Summary One of the most widely used techniques for water content determination in food is Karl Fischer (KF) titration. Compared to other methods based on loss of weight, the primary advantage of the Karl Fischer titration method is its high selectivity to water. The aim of the study was to develop and validate the Karl Fischer method for moisture determination in pollen loads, royal jelly, bee venom and propolis. The effects of sample weight and mixing/homogenization time were investigated. A study of the main validation parameters (repeatability and reproducibility) of the elaborated methods for the studied bee products was also conducted. Optimal parameters (sample weight and minimal mixing/homogenization time) for water determination in bee products using the Karl Fischer method were established as follows: sample weight: 0.10 - 0.20 g and time of sample homogenization: 120 s for bee-collected pollen, 0.05 - 0.10 g and 120 s for bee venom, 0.02 - 0.05 g and 180s for royal jelly and 0.20g and 300s for propolis, respectively. The coefficient of variation of the results received for series determinations of water content in each studied bee product with the exception of propolis, conducted at repeatability and reproducibility conditions did not exceed 10%. Mean values for water content of the bee products were as follow: 6.99% for bee venom, 18.34% for fresh and 6.25% for dried bee-collected pollen, 62.56% for royal jelly and 2.30% for propolis. These results will be used to establish water requirements and will be introduced into the International Honey Commission (IHC) standards. Keywords: bee-collected pollen, royal jelly, bee venom, propolis, water content, Karl Fischer method Full text PDF Back to the top POLLEN ANALYSIS OF HONEYS FROM POLAND'S LUBELSZCZYZNA REGIONS Anna Wróblewska, Zofia Warakomska Summary In the years 1990-2008, analyses were conducted for a pollen spectrum of 160 samples of honeys originating from five regions of Lubelszczyzna. A microscopic analysis of pollen sediments was carried out as postulated by Louveaux et al. (1978) and Moar (1985) using the palynological classification by Zander (1935, 1937). The honeys were evaluated according to the Polish Standard PN-88/A-77626 Bee honey (1988), which has not been used since 2003 but is still applied voluntarily. Among the examined samples of honeys 142 were compatible with the Polish Standard (PS), including 67 specific honeys and 75 multifloral honeys, as well as 18 specific honeys not covered by the Polish Standard. From among the specific honeys identified in analyses: 45 originated from Brassica napus, 17 from Tilia, 4 from Fagopyrum and one from Robinia. Among those not registered in the PS: 6 honeys originated from Salix, 4 from Rubus, two each from Phacelia and Prunus and one each from Lythrum salicaria, Malus, Solidago and Trifolium repens. The honeys from all 5 regions were found to contain the pollen of Brassicaceae, Centaurea cyanus, Malus type, Prunus type, Rubus type, Salix, Taraxacum type and Trifolium repens s.l, whereas among the pollen-bearing non-nectary plants, the honey contained pollen of Plantago, Poaceae and Rumex. Keywords: honeys, pollen analysis, Lubelszczyzna (Poland) Full text PDF Back to the top INFLUENCE OF INCREASED DIVISION OF LABOUR AMONG WORKER BEES ON DEAD BROOD REMOVAL Grzegorz Borsuk Summary The aim of the research was to study the influence of mixing hygienic and non-hygienic bees into the division of labour in the colony and its affect on dead brood removal. In an apiary with 80 bee colonies, a two year selection study was conducted. Bees for this research were taken from hygienic and non-hygienic colonies. Studies were carried out using two-sided glass Zander hives. In the hives, 200 hygienic bees (marked yellow) and 200 non-hygienic (marked white) were settled and a virgin queen was introduced. Twenty cells with one-side pinned (or pin-killed) brood were placed into these nucleuses and the process of removing dead brood was recorded. Observations were conducted for 3 years, with 4 repetitions every year. At first, it was mainly the hygienic bees that began removing the dead brood. It took one year for the non-hygienic bees to begin removing dead brood. The work of bees during removing dead brood had a fluctuating character because stimulus activating the bees was short. Every hygienic bee was strongly stimulated and started removing dead brood from comb cells. During cell cleaning in 2005 and 2007, the so called undertaker bees were noticed (from 4.5 to 6%). These undertaker bees were non-hygienic bees and they removed pieces of dead brood from the colony area. In the year 2006 undertaker bees were not observed. Keywords: hygienic behavior, undertaker bees, mixed colonies, polyandry, Apis mellifera Full text PDF Back to the top ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTION TRAITS IN THE BUCKFAST BEE Krzysztof Olszewski Summary The objective of the study, which was conducted in the northern part of the Lublin region of Poland, was to assess the production traits in Buckfast bees (Bcf) as compared with Caucasian hybrids (cau x car). The experiments were performed in two seasons each experimental group consisted of 10 colonies. The assessment of winter hardiness was carried out on the basis of the number of dead bees collected from hive bottoms, and also on the basis of the extent of colony infestation by Nosema apis. The criteria of the springtime colony development assessment were the measurements of the brood area and the brood increase between the measurements. The colony strength was expressed as the number of combs populated by bees. Swarming tendency was assessed on the basis of the number of colonies in which the swarming tendency occurred. Honey yield was expressed as the weight of the honey harvested. The weight of the honey that was left in the brood chamber was also assessed after the last honey harvest. In the first season, Bcf colonies lost statistically more bees than cau x car. In the second season, however, they overwintered better than cau x car. No increased susceptibility of Bcf to Nosema apis infestation was found. Bcf colony development was slightly less intense than that of cau x car, and Bcf colonies had a low swarming tendency. Regarding the honey yield, Bcf bees did not differ significantly from cau x car, even though they achieved worse results under the poor nectar flow conditions. Bcf stored slightly less honey in the brood chamber than cau x car. With regard to overwintering, springtime colony development, and swarming tendency, Bcf bees meet the expectations of beekeepers from the Lublin region. In this area satisfactory utilization of the early nectar flow is dependent on having bees with successful overwintering and intensive springtime colony development. Regarding the honey yield, Bcf are equal to cau x car hybrid coloniess. Keywords: Buckfast, assessment, production traits Full text PDF Back to the top THE ROLE OF PHYTOHORMONES IN INSTRUMENTAL INSEMINATION OF QUEEN BEES Bożena Chuda-Mickiewicz, Jarosław Prabucki, Jerzy Samborski, Piotr Rostecki Summary In total, 164 queen bees were inseminated instrumentally, including 122 ones in mating nuclei being fed with phytohormones-supplemented sugar syrup (cytokinin and epibrassinolide) before and/or after instrumental insemination, with 8 ľl of semen. It was found that bee feeding with phytohormones did not have any effect on the percentage of egg laying queens. In groups receiving phytohormones, oviposition was started by 70 to 80.9% of queens whereas in the control group by 76.2 % (p = 0.14). Queens started oviposition after an average of 8.1 days. The time of the onset of oviposition by queens in groups receiving phytohromones, was from 7 to 9.5 days. This did not differ significantly from that for the queens from nuclei being fed with pure sugar syrup (c2 = 5.4386; df = 3; p = 0.1424). Keywords: Apis mellifera, honeybee queen, instrumental insemination, oviposition, phytohormones Full text PDF Back to the top HONEYBEE QUEEN DOCILITY NOTICED DURING QUEEN DUELS Jerzy Paleolog Summary Most animals compete for mates and most competition includes some type of fighting. But if losses are too high, one of the opponents withdraws. Apis mellifera is a rare example of a species where this competition most frequently results in deadly fights. However, "weak" queens sometimes refrain/retreat from fighting. This study is to confirm the occurrence of such behavior and to investigate how bee breed and prior insemination influence the queen contests. A pair of queens (10 or 14 days old), were introduced into an arena together with 3-day old workers. The comparison concerned the behaviour of 2 x 50 pairs of the crossbreed, 100 pairs of native and 100 pairs of Caucasian queens, as well as the behaviour of 17 pairs of inseminated and 19 pairs of virgin queens. Three types of fight behaviour were described. Super-domination (SD), one queen attacked, whereas the other tried to withdraw. SD results not from the extraordinary aggression of the dominating queen but rather from the backing out of the fight by her opponent. The "weak" queen either refrained from fighting, without any physical contact with her opponent (RF) or she tried to retreat after the first clash (RT was observed in the SD and the DD pairs). Domination (DD), one queen dominated and attacked, but the other fought back and even counterattacked. Occasionally, the opponent of the dominating queen began to retreat from fighting after several clashes (RT). No-domination, both queens attacked but neither of them was able to dominate or, in two cases, both of the dueling queens refrained from fighting (RF). Prior insemination and breed (genotype) significantly influenced the duration, pattern and violence of the queens. The percentage of DD was 33% - 42%, ND was 41% - 52% and SD was 9% - 26% and it was influenced only by breed not by the prior insemination. The percentage of RT+RF was 17% and 22% in crossbreeds and natives, but as much as 47% in Caucasian queens (RF was respectively 7%, 5% and 12%). RT and RF behavior seem to be important, genetically determined, mechanisms of bee queen contest/selection. RF queens were also able to assess their own strength before engaging into a conflict, and just therefore they wthdraw from fighting. Keywords: Apis mellifera, queen, behaviour, conflict, duel Full text PDF Back to the top COMPUTER-ASSISTED DISCRIMINATION OF HONEYBEE SUBSPECIES USED FOR BREEDING IN POLAND Dariusz Gerula, Adam Tofilski, Paweł Węgrzynowicz, Wojciech Skowronek Summary The aim of this study was to develop a method for automated discrimination of three honeybee subspecies used for breeding in Poland: A. mellifera carnica, A. m. caucasica and A. m. mellifera. The method developed exploits characteristic venation of forewings. Samples of bees were collected from 1042 bee colonies of the three subspecies. From each of the colonies 20 right forewings were dissected and scanned with Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED. For every wing image the coordinates of 19 points were determined automatically using DrawWings software. Within each of the colonies the points were aligned using the Procrustes method, and the average configuration of points were calculated. Two methods of subspecie distinction are presented; one based on discriminant functions and the other based on canonical coefficients. Computer software was developed for automated discrimination of the three honeybee subspecies used for breeding in Poland. Keywords: honeybee, Apis mellifera, subspecies, wing Full text PDF Back to the top RED MASON BEE (Osmia rufa L.) AS A POLLINATOR OF RAPE PLANTATIONS Dariusz Teper, Mieczysław Biliński Summary The utility of the red mason bee (Osmia rufa L.) as a pollinator of commercial plantations of winter rape (Brassica napus L. var. napus f. biennis) was studied from 2004 to 2006 at the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Apiculture Division in Puławy, Poland. The study included observations of rape flowers visited by bees, pollen analyses of nest cells and a calculation of the Osmia rufa population increase in the consecutive years of the experiment. The Brassica napus pollen content in nest cells for each year was equal to: 2004 - 36.1%; 2005 - 8.3%; 2006 - 45%. Besides rape pollen, pollen of the following entomophilous plants was determined: Acer, Aesculus, Caryophyllaceae, Lamium type, Lilium, Lonicera, Malus type, Taraxacum type, Prunus type, Ranunculus, Rubus type, Salix as well as that of such anemophilous taxons as: Carpinus, Fagus, Juglans, Pinus, Populus, Quercus, Ulmus. The population was found to grow three-fold every year, with a growth factor equal to: 2004 - 3.04; 2005 - 3.4; 2006 - 3.2. Keywords: red mason bee, Osmia rufa, pollination, Brassica napus Full text PDF Back to the top Homepage