Determination of the Effect of Live Weight on Various Quality Parameters of Commercially Reared Queens (Apis mellifera L.) in Turkey

Abstract

The Mediterranean region in Turkey is considered highly suitable for commercial queen bee rearing due to its temperate climate characteristics. Therefore, in the research, the queens to be examined in terms of quality criteria were obtained from commercial queen bee enterprises in Antalya, Mersin, Adana, and Hatay provinces in the Mediterranean region. In April-May, 5 queen bees from each of the 36 enterprises rearing queens were included in the study. Characteristics such as queen weight, spermatheca volume and diameter, and spermatozoa stored in the spermatheca are considered quality criteria, and the factors affecting them were evaluated on a total of 180 queens. Queens taken from the enterprises were divided into three groups according to their weight; light (172.56±1.75 mg), moderate (193.70±0.62 mg), and heavy (214.13±0.95 mg). The average spermatheca diameters in the light, medium, and heavy groups were 0.982±0.006 mm, 1.053±0.002 mm, and 1.215±0.008 mm, respectively. According to the average results obtained regarding the quality criteria in the study, it was determined that 60.55% of the queens evaluated in the study (the heavy group) were at standard quality levels. On the other hand, in the light and medium groups, it was observed that all values were below the quality standard values. These results show that while evaluating the quality criteria in queen bee breeding enterprises, selection can be made according to the weight of the queen bees.