Naslov
Experimental data on introduction of queen cells versus introduction of virgin queens by “second birth” method in mating nuclei with present brood, by Apis mellifera carnica in Rijeka, Croatia

Autori
Šekulja, Damir

Izvornik
Apidologie (Celle) (0044-8435) 42 (2011), 6; 771-796

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, pregledni rad, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
mating hive, queen cells, virgin queen

Sažetak
When the laying queen is removed from a mating hive, requeening is usually done by adding a queen cell. This method is safe and widely used by the commercial queen breeders, but the control in respect of the quality of the queen, and often in respect of its origin is lost. In spite of the fact that queens hatched from cells usually start to lay eggs after 12 to 13 days, in contrast to introduced virgins which start to lay already after 8 to 9 days, introduction of the virgin queens in mating hives with present brood, has proven to be too risky for the commercial use, as often, a high numbers of such newly introduced queens are rejected from the nuclei, which leads to lower mating success. For this reason, a method of requeening by a “second birth”, of previously marked virgin queens, was tested in 2009 on 280 mating nuclei compared with 152 nuclei with added queen cells. Mating success in mating hives requeened by the method of the “second birth” in 2009 was 67, 85% and was slightly higher, compared with 61, 84% in mating nuclei requeened by the introduction of the queen cells. In 2010, “second birth” was used, as the only method on 733 mating nuclei in June (mating success was 63, 30%) and on 730 mating nuclei in July (mating success was 70, 40%). Both in 2009 and in 2010, mating success obtained by a “second birth” method was similar or higher then mating success on same locations in last 8 years. “Second birth” method has proven to simplify field work, is improving origin tracking accuracy and is less time consuming then requeening mating nuclei with brood by adding queen cells.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

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