THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENT PROTEIN CONTENT OF POLLEN ON HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFERA L.) REPRODUCTION

Zheko Radev

Abstract


The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of different protein content of pollen on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) reproduction. The study was carried out using five bee colonies, housed in 10-frame Langstroth hives. At the end of each month the colonies were inspected for quantity workers brood. Pollen traps were placed into the bee hives and the pollen pellets were harvested every 2 days from April until September. Pollen from plants blooming in spring had higher protein content- average 24.2% than those from summer- average 19.3%, and autumn- avarage 20.5%. During the spring the pollen with protein content over 21%, and especially over 27% allows the colonies to maintain a high level of reproduction. The reproduction of the bee colonies is higher, when honey bees collect pollen with higher protein content. When the protein content is going down, the reproduction of the bee colonies is also restricted. If there is autumn providing pollen with high protein content, the bee colonies grow faster in the early spring of the following year as well. There is a relationship between the protein content of pollen and the reproduction of bee colonies.

Keywords


Bulgaria, honey bee, impact, pollen, protein content, reproduction

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References


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