Bee venom collection and its impact on behaviour and productivity of Apis mellifera Linnaeus colonies
Loading...
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
The study on ‘Bee venom collection and its impact on behaviour and productivity of Apis mellifera Linnaeus colonies’ was carried out during four seasons (monsoon and autumn in 2021, spring and summer in 2022) at Apis mellifera Apiary of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The results revealed that the mean quantity of bee venom collection using bee venom collector model DPS-BVC01 (11.84, 18.98, 17.52 and 8.27 mg/colony/exposure during spring, summer, monsoon and autumn, respectively) was significantly higher from than with model Bee Whisper 5.0 (1.19, 2.13, 1.78 and 0.98 mg/colony/exposure in the corresponding seasons, respectively). Colonies of 16 bee-frame strength yielded significantly higher mean quantity of bee venom (8.05, 13.24, 12.62 and 5.17 mg/colony/exposure in the corresponding seasons, respectively) than 8 bee-frame strength colonies (4.90, 8.17, 6.68 and 4.07 mg/colony/exposure during spring, summer, monsoon and autumn, respectively). Increase in exposure period from 30 to 60 min significantly increased bee venom collection from 5.66, 8.70, 8.49 and 4.04 mg/colony/exposure to 7.37, 12.71, 10.82 and 5.20 mg/colony/exposure during spring, summer, monsoon and autumn, respectively. Mean adult mortality was significantly low during all the four seasons (< 2 bees/colony/exposure). Mean reduction in unsealed brood rearing by 7.90, 12.47, 13.74 and 12.70 per cent and capped brood by 5.26, 9.78, 10.42 and 9.17 per cent over control was recorded in A. mellifera colonies used for bee venom collection over the four seasons. Brood survival of the exposed colonies decreased by 1.72, 2.20, 6.19 and 5.45 per cent during spring, summer, monsoon and autumn, repectively over control. Bee venom collection impacted bee population by 1.63, 3.79, 4.27 and 1.60 per cent during spring, summer, monsoon and autumn, respectively. There was significant reduction in mean nectar foraging per min after one day of venom collection by 12.60-13.31, 16.46-16.68, 13.94-13.29, 15.75-19.27 per cent and pollen foraging by 19.23-19.72, 28.93-28.07, 33.81-30.00, 36.5630.43 per cent during spring, summer, monsoon and autumn, respectively. However, pollen and nectar foraging after three days of venom collection had been on par with pre venom collection data. Bee venom collection resulted in significant reduction in honey stores by 13.25, 14.29, 24.82 and 11.77 per cent and pollen stores by 7.69, 12.71, 20.67 and 8.83 per cent during spring, summer, monsoon and autumn, respectively. However, defensiveness of colonies one day after the venom collection increased by 9.16, 8.67, 10.34 and 11.15 per cent over pre-venom collection. Collection of bee venom from A. mellifera colonies for 60 min at weekly interval using DPS-BVC-01 resulted in improving hygienic behaviour over control by 14.48 and 18.22 per cent during spring and summer seasons, respectively. Providing pollen (100 g/colony/week) or PAU pollen subsititute (100 g/colony/week) along with sugar solution (50:50 w/w, 500 ml/colony/week) to A. mellifera colonies during floral dearth of monsoon resulted in 4.03 and 2.96 times more bee venom collection over control colonies. In view of all the factors and economics, it is concluded to use eight bee-frame strength A. mellifera colonies for weekly collection of bee venom with venom collector model DPS-BVC-01 (run once for 60 min/week).
Description
Keywords
Citation
Sidana, Vishal (2022). Bee venom collection and its impact on behaviour and productivity of Apis mellifera Linnaeus colonies (Unpublished M.Sc. thesis). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.