Productive potential of bee families with different quantity of brood

Abstract

Goal. To study the influence of different number of brood of different ages in the nest of bee colonies on their condition and flight-collecting activity. Methods. Zootechnical (selection of groups of analogues, assessment of bee colonies, accounting of the number of brood), mathematical-statistical (assessment of the reliability of the obtained results). Biometric data processing was performed on a PC using MS Excel software with the use of built-in statistical functions. Results. This work shows the productive potential of bee colonies depending on the number of brood in them. In connection with the changing conditions of the habitat of the honey bee, there is particular interest in solving problems that would make it possible to optimize the dynamics of raising brood by bees in order to form an excess amount of brood, as well as to maintain a minimum number of brood and its rhythmic reproduction in order to reduce energy losses of bees in caring for brood. It has been proven that the number of brood raised by bees is a significant factor that stimulates bees to increase their flight-collecting activity. A study was conducted to determine the influence of the number of brood in a bee colony on the mass of worker bees. It was determined that the live weight of worker bees of the experimental groups during the 1st–6th day was higher than that of the control group. During the 7th–12th day a smaller influence of the number of brood in the nests of bee colonies on the live weight of the worker bees is observed. Conclusions. Analyzing the results of the study, it can be stated that taking away the brood had a positive effect on flight-collecting activity of bees, but only in the first 6 days. The flight activity of bees is directly related to the number of open brood. For the effective use of honey collection, it is important not only to increase the maximum number of bees before the start of the main honey collection, but also to limit the feeding of a large number of larvae in time.