Effect of the Multiple Queens Within Colony on Some Honeybee Activities, Apis mellifera carnica and Sustainability of their Colonies

Abstract

Multiple honey bee queen colonies contained two to four mated queens which able to move freely were produced by removing the mandibles of queens which trigger fighting and queen elimination within the colony. This method showed the high success, Twenty five out of twenty seven queens were accepted after their introduction in Carniolan colonies, and the success ratio reaches 92.6%. Twenty seven multiple queens introduced in nine colonies were sustainable enough for long period without losing any queen from the spring to fall in the first year. Twenty seven were over wintered successfully and no queen loss was recorded until the next fall in the second year. The multiple queen colonies which contained four queens were more efficient than the other tested multiple queen colonies in the workers brood production activity, it was recorded an average 14460 inch2/colony/ year for amount of worker brood, followed by colonies which contained three queens then colonies which contained two queens while the single queen colonies as control indicated the lowest mean amount of workers brood 5776 inch2/colony / year. Also, multiple queen colonies contained four queens were scored highest value of mean amounts 348, 9692 and 4120 inch2/colony / year for drone brood rearing, honey and pollen production, respectively. The single queen colonies indicated the lowest amount of 124, 4968 and 1864 inch2/colony / year for drones brood rearing, honey and pollen production, respectively. Also, multiple queen colonies contained four queens were scored highest value of mean amounts citrus, clover and cotton flow seasons, while single queen colonies were recorded lowest amount in same flow seasons. From the obtained results it was shown that the multiple queen colonies are more efficient for helping the beekeepers to increase the bee population and thus increase the honeybee products. In addition the multiple queens technique can be used in the commercial domain.