Changes in the exterior features of honey bees during the season

Abstract

The exterior traits of honey bees used to determine breed affiliation in breeding work were studied. It has been noted that changes in exterior traits are caused by various factors (geographic, interbreeding, intrafamily, etc.). The experiment was conducted on an apiary located in the Ryazan region in 2021. Young bees were sampled during the season using a frame isolator. Individual parts of the chitinous skeleton of bees were dissected and measured according to the accepted method of measuring exterior features using software that allows to measure from the image of the object. The average and its standard error were calculated for each bee family separately. Non-parametric tests for multiple comparisons (Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis) were calculated using Statistica 13.0 software. Analysis of the obtained averages showed that the exterior traits change to a small extent during the season, but this change was less than the variability between the individuals of the same sample. Comparison of the averages obtained using non-parametric tests in most cases showed insignificant differences between the samples taken from the same bee family during the season. Only three cases showed significant differences. The change in exterior traits during the season is insignificant, and it is associated with the uneven mixing of drone bees' sperm in the genital tracts of the queen bee. Moreover, the greater this unevenness of mixing, the greater the differences. It is recommended to homogenize the sperm of drones when using instrumental insemination.