Halil Yeninar

Effects of queen ages on Varroa (Varroa destructor) infestation level in honey bee (Apis mellifera caucasica) colonies and colony performance

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the effects of queen age on varroa population levels in hives and performance of honey bee (A. mellifera caucasica) colonies. Levels of varroa infestation and performances of the colonies which had 0, 1- and 2-year-old queens were compared in mild climate conditions. Varroa numbers on adults and drone brood, number of frames covered with bees and brood areas were determined every month between 10 May and 10 October 2004. Overall average (± S.E.) % infestation levels of varroa were found to be 5.96 ± 1.42, 11.58 ± 1.46 and 15.87 ± 1.39% on adult bees and 21.55 ± 1.43, 31.96 ± 1.44 and 37.55 ± 1.45% in drone brood cells for 0, 1- and 2-year-old queen colonies, respectively. The colonies which had 0, 1- and 2-year-old queens produced 2673.58 ± 39.69, 2711.75 ± 39.68, and 1815.08 ± 39.70 cm2 overall average (± S.E.) sealed brood and 10.35 ± 0.24, 10.43 ± 0.26 and 7.51 ± 0.21 numbers of frame adult bees, respectively. Honey harvested from 0, 1- and 2-year-old queen colonies averaged 21.60 ± 5.25, 22.20 ± 6.55, and 14.70 ± 2.50 kg/colony, respectively. The colonies headed by young queens had a lower level of varroa infestation, a greater brood area, longer worker bee population and greater honey yield in comparison to colonies headed by old queens.

An observation study on the effects of queen age on some characteristics of honey bee colonies

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the effects of the queen’s age on performance of the honeybee (A. mellifera anatoliaca) colonies at nomad beekeeping conditions. Performances of the colonies, which had 0, 1, 2 and 3 year-old queens, were compared. The number of combs, brood areas, wintering ability survival rate and honey yield were determined as performance criteria. The average number of combs with bees throughout the experiment in Group I, Group II, Group III and Group IV was 10.92±0.78, 14.68±0.55, 10.10±0.60, 7.88±0.45 number combs/colony; the average of brood areas was 3078±372.5 cm2, 3668±460.3 cm2, 2215±294.0 cm2, 1665.38±241.8 cm2; the average of wintering ability was 84.3±2.9%, 88.0±3.7%, 46.6±19.0%, 26.8±16.5%; the survival rate was 100%, 100%, 60%, 40%; and the average of honey yields was 31.4±1.89 kg, 41.5±1.05 kg, 20.4±2.62 kg and 12.0±1.41 kg per colony, respectively. A significant and negative correlation between queen age and brood production (r=-80.2), colony strength (r=-62.5), wintering ability (r=-66) and honey yield (r=-75.6) were calculated (P<0.01). The colonies headed by young queens had more brood areas, longer worker colony population, better wintering ability and greater honey yield in comparison to colonies headed by old queens.

Controlling Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in honeybee Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies by using Thymovar ® and BeeVital ®

Abstract This study was carried out to determine the effects of Thymovar® and BeeVital® on reducing Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) damage in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies in spring season. Average percentage of Varroa infestation level was determined as 24.27 on adult workers before the treatments. The drugs were applied two times on 25 September and 16 October 2006. Average percentage of Varroa infestation levels were determined as 5.18%, 10.78% and 35.45% after the first application, 1.90%, 7.05% and 61.15% after the second application in Thymovar®, BeeVital® and control groups, respectively. Average efficacies of Thymovar® and BeeVital® were found to be 96.91% and 88.66%, respectively. Difference between drug efficacies on Varroa mite was found significant (P<0.01). There was no queen, brood and adult honeybee mortality in all group colonies during the research.

Live Weight of Queen Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera L.) Predicts Reproductive Characteristics

ABSTRACT: The study was conducted to determine the effects of queen body weight at emergence on the mating ratio, acceptance of the mated queens by the queenless colonies, onset of oviposition, diameter of spermathecae, the number of spermatozoa in the spermathecae, and the egg-laying rate of the queens. The queens were categorized in three groups; Heavy (207.63 ± 0.95 mg), Medium (193.47 ± 0.96 mg) and Light (175.00 ± 0. 62 mg) according to weight at the emergence. Acceptance rates in heavy, medium and light queen groups were 93.33%, 86.66% and 66.66%; average mating ratios were 93.3%, 90.0% and 83.3%; and the onset of oviposition was 8.5, 8.8 and 9.8 days after emergence, respectively. The diameters of spermathecae and the numbers of spermatozoa in the spermathecae were 1.25, 1.06, 0.86 mm; and 5.2, 4.8 and 4.2 million respectively. The amounts of brood area, 30 days after the onset of oviposition were 6605.2 ± 63.6, 5571.3 ± 90.3 and 4520.2 ± 58.3 cm2 in the colonies headed by the heavy, medium and light queens. Statistically important correlations were found between queen weight and the diameter of the spermatheca (r  =  0.98), the number of spermatozoa in the spermatheca (r  =  0.97) and egg-laying rate of the queens (r  =  0.90).

Comparison of colony performances of Anatolian, Caucasian and Carniolan honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.) genotypes in temperate climate conditions

This study was carried out to determine the performances of Mugla and Nigde ecotypes (A. m. anatoliaca), Caucasian (A. m. caucasica) and Carniolan (A. m. carnica) honeybee genotypes in the region of central Anatolia conditions. A total of 40 colonies (each genotype group consisted of 10 colonies) were used in the study. All queens were reared at the same time and in the same apiary and were instrumentally inseminated. The average numbers of combs covered with bees were found to be 11.24±0.59, 9.51±0.42, 8.11±0.31 and 12.38±0.72 per colony respectively; the average brood areas were found to be 2825.0±240.3, 2160.6±176.8, 1701.9±129.7 and 2883.0±104.4 cm2 per colony respectively; and the average honey yields were found to be 28.60±0.88, 15.40±0.69, 23.40±0.54 and 31.60±1.12 kg per colony in Mugla ecotype, Nigde ecotype, Caucasian and Carniolan genotypes respectively. The mean differences among the genotypes for number of combs with bees, brood area and honey yield were significant (P<0.01). These results showed that the Carniolan genotype had the best performance and Nigde ecotype had the lowest performance in temperate climate conditions. Therefore, productivity of the Nigde ecotype can be increased by a crossbreeding programme with Carniolan and Mugla genotypes.