Pupa ( Apis mellifera L .) Rearing Conditions to Improve Queen Weight at Emergence

Peter, N.A.; Frunze, O.; Kim, D.W.; Kang, E.J.; Park, B.S.; Kim, K.M.; Choi, Y.S.

Pupa ( Apis mellifera L .) Rearing Conditions to Improve Queen Weight at Emergence

2022

Queen quality depends on increased body weight at emergence, which is strongly affected by ecological factors during brood rearing; however, much remains undefined in terms of improving queen weight at emergence. We initially reared 12-20 h-old larvae in queenright (QR) and queenless (QL) colonies at temperatures of 28±2℃ and 70±6% relative humidity (RH) and 29±3℃ and 65±8% RH respectively, and later transferred 50% of the pupae into an incubator (34.7±0.42℃ and 80±5% RH). Queen weight at emergence was observed to be the highest in the QR and QL colonies of the incubator (217.36±5.51 mg and 199.61±4.24 mg, respectively) compared to that of QR and QL colonies (199.45±3.60 mg and 182.94±3.35 mg respectively) in the hives. Queen weight at emergence differed significantly among rearing groups (P less than 0.0001), whereas the difference in the emergence rate was insignificant. We observed that rearing queen bees initially from QR colonies and pupae in an incubator at an optimum and more stable temperature could be an advantage in improving queen weight at emergence. Further studies are needed to investigate their acceptance, mating, and reproductive success rates.

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