Evaluation of Methods for The Acceptance of the Artificially Inseminated Queen Bee to the Colony

Abstract

When artificial insemination practices in honey bees are used correctly, they actively increase yield characteristics. However, producers may experience serious problems when accepting artificially inseminated queen bees to the colonies. To minimize this problem, inseminated queen bees are first accepted into small mating boxes. Small colonies are formed, supported, and developed after admission to the new colony. In addition to spending serious effort and time, this process causes maimed queen bees and even colony losses if they fail. In the study, 21 queen bees were used, 7 of which were queen bees in each group. 7 queen bees were naturally mated. After 7 queens were artificially inseminated, they were first given to small mating colonies using the classical method. Queen bees that accepted and laid eggs were introduced to colonies with 4-5 laths of worker bees. 7 colonies were given as queen bee thimbles 2 days before hatching. Queens that had hatched were inseminated and given to the same colonies. Whether the queen bees given to the colonies in 3 different groups were accepted into the colonies was evaluated after 10 days. The egg-laying rates of the queens admitted to the colony were checked after the egg appeared. In the controls, it was seen that the acceptance of the queen bees kept individually in their own colony was less laborious and more successful than the classical method.