<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> In bee colonies without open brood, e.g., after swarming, there is no need for royal jelly, and nurse bees thus do not produce it. According to many beekeepers, adding combs with open brood restarts the production of royal jelly by nurse bees, and the virgin queens then are better fed and start earlier oviposition. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the presence of open brood and the strength of the colonies affect the onset of oviposition by queen bees. Open brood in colonies with virgins before and during mating flights did not accelerate the initiation of oviposition by the queens. In addition, no differences were identified in starting oviposition by queens in strong colonies of more than 30,000 worker bees, or in weak colonies with up to 1,000 workers. Overall, the results showed that neither open brood in the nests, nor the strength of the colonies affects the onset of oviposition by queen bees.</p></abstract>

In bee colonies without open brood, e.g., after swarming, there is no need for royal jelly, and nurse bees thus do not produce it. According to many beekeepers, adding combs with open brood restarts the production of royal jelly by nurse bees, and the virgin queens then are better fed and start earlier oviposition. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the presence of open brood and the strength of the colonies affect the onset of oviposition by queen bees. Open brood in colonies with virgins before and during mating flights did not accelerate the initiation of oviposition by the queens. In addition, no differences were identified in starting oviposition by queens in strong colonies of more than 30,000 worker bees, or in weak colonies with up to 1,000 workers. Overall, the results showed that neither open brood in the nests, nor the strength of the colonies affects the onset of oviposition by queen bees.

The Effect of Open Brood and Colony Strength on the Onset of Oviposition by Queen Bees

Apiculture Division, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 166 Nowoursynowska, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland

Journal of Apicultural Science

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In bee colonies without open brood, e.g., after swarming, there is no need for royal jelly, and nurse bees thus do not produce it. According to many...

The Effect of Open Brood and Colony Strength on the Onset of Oviposition by Queen Bees

Published Online: May 27, 2014

Page range: 69 - 73

Received: Apr 03, 2013

Accepted: Mar 03, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jas-2014-0006

Keywords
honey bee, initiation of oviposition, open brood, queen bee

© by Jakub Gąbka

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Effect of Open Brood and Colony Strength on the Onset of Oviposition by Queen Bees

Published Online: May 27, 2014

Page range: 69 - 73

Received: Apr 03, 2013

Accepted: Mar 03, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jas-2014-0006

Keywordshoney bee, initiation of oviposition, open brood, queen bee

© by Jakub Gąbka

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords
honey bee, initiation of oviposition, open brood, queen bee