Drone Rearing and its Importance for Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies

Year 2008, Volume: 08 Issue: 3, 106 - 111, 28.08.2008

Ahmet Güler

Abstract

In this study the rearing of drones and its importance for honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies were discussed. The effects of drones and queen on the physiological, behavioral and task specialization of bee colonies are genetically equivalent. For this reason the rearing of drones is of high importance in queen production. During the mating each queen has to mate with 8 or 10 drones. Under certain circumstances such insufficiently mated queens may lead to unproductive colonies due to insufficient worker population. Drones have to be reared from the colonies with known and preferred performances. Drone mother colonies need special care and maintenance. They should be fed throughout the time drones are being reared. Also they should be supported by addition of sealed brood combs each week. The time needed for sexual maturation of the drone and the queen are different. The drone comb is given to each drone mother colony about 40 days before the time the drones are needed, typicallyin the autumn. The drone may be permitted to mature in the feeding colonies. A carefully maintained drone mother colony can produce about 3200 to 4000 cm2 drone brood area, which is sufficient for securing matings of 140 to 150 queens. Queen breeders should take into consideration the genetic quality of the drone mother colonies just like the queen source colonies.

Keywords

Honeybee, Apis mellifera, Drone, Rearing

Erkek Arı Yetiştiriciliği ve Balarısı (Apis mellifera L.) Kolonileri İçin Önemi

Abstract

Bu çalışmada erkek arıların koloni verimliliğindeki önemi ve yetiştiriciliği değerlendirilmiştir. Koloni verimliliğinde erkek arı ile ana arının etkileri eşittir. Bu nedenle erkek arı yetiştiriciliği ana arı yeniştiriciliği kadar önemlidir. Yeterli sayıda erkek arı ile çiftleşemeyen ana arı bir arıcılık sezonunu verimli bir şekilde çıkaramaz. Çiftleşme yetersizliği olan bu ana arıların olduu koloniler yeterli işçi arı yetitiremediklerinden verimleri de düşük olur. Erkek arı, verim ve davranışları bilinen kolonilerden yetitirilir. Erkek arı anası olacak koloniye sonbaharda erkek arı gözlü petek verilir. Ana arının erken baharda bu peteklere yumurtlaması sağlanır. Daha sonra bu yumurtalar larvaya dönüştükten sonra besleyici koloniye aktarılır. Koloni besleme programına alınır ve belirli aralıklarla kapalı yavru takviyesi yapılır. İyi yönetilen ve yönlendirilen bir erkek arı anası koloni bir sezonda yaklaşık 140–150 adet ana arının döllenmesini sağlayacak kadar erkek arı üretir

Keywords

Balarısı, Apis mellifera, Erkek arı, Önemi, Yetiştiriciliği

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