Selective Breeding of Honeybees for Alfalfa Pollen Collection: Sixth Generation and Outcrosses

Abstract

SummaryFive groups of honeybee colonies were tested for their tendency to collect alfalfa pollen. One group was the sixth generation of a line with a strong tendency to collect this pollen (high line); another was the sixth generation of a line with a low tendency to collect it (low line). In these two groups an average of 86% and 8%, respectively, of the pollen collectors collected alfalfa pollen; this represented little improvement over the fifth generation (Nye & Mackensen, 1968). A third group was a commercial strain (which ranked low, 31%), but the fourth (an outcross of high-line queens to drones of the commercial strain) and a fifth (an outcross of high-line drones to queens of another stock) ranked intermediate, at 52% and 59%, respectively, and were significantly higher than the commercial strain. The number of alfalfa pollen collectors was highest (29) in the high line; it was the same (18) in both outcrosses, this being slightly but not significantly higher than in the commercial strain (16). T...