engleski

Impact of the collectors’ position on collected honeybee venom weight

Honeybee venom, a product of honeybees’ venom glands, is a complex mixture of proteins, peptides, enzymes, biogenic amines, pheromones and other biologically active components. Honeybee venom is usually collected using collectors placed outside of the hive, at the hive entrance. Honeybee venom collected under these conditions has a significant amount of impurities, and collected venom weight, as well as the concentration of melittin, a major venom component, varies greatly. Therefore, different collecting conditions were investigated in order to increase the quality and the weight of collected venom. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the collectors’ position on collected honeybee venom weight. Collection was performed in 12 hives, six collectors were placed outside of the hive and six inside the hive. Period of electrostimulation lasted for 30 minutes and the collection was performed three times within 15 days. The results showed significant differences in collected venom weight depending in the collectors’ position. Average collected venom weight on collectors placed inside the hive was 0.13±0.07 g while the collected weight on collectors placed outside of the hives was 0.03±0.03 g. Total weight of honeybee venom collected was 2.40 g on inside collectors and 0.53 g on outside collectors. Further studies should include determination of melittin content in honeybee venom samples collected in different conditions to evaluate possible impact on collectors’ position on melittin concentration in venom.

bee venom ; collecting conditions ; collected weight

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