ISHS Acta Horticulturae 437: VII International Symposium on Pollination
COLONY DEVELOPMENT OF ANATOLIAN BUMBLEBEES (BOMBUS TERRESTRIS) UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS |
| Authors: | H. Yeninar, O. Kaftanoglu |
| Abstract:
Using bumblebees as pollinators for various agricultural crops has become an important part of the modern agriculture. Naturally mated Bombus terrestris L. queens were captured from the Aegean Region in November 1995 to initiate a bumblebee breeding program in Turkey. The queens were fed sugar syrup and pollen cake and kept at 27°C and 60–70% RH in rearing rooms. Colony development was recorded daily on 30 queens. Twenty one queens survived (70%) and established strong colonies. Queens started laying eggs 6.3 ± 1.5 days after they were placed in nest boxes. The average number of eggcups in the first, second and third brood were 5.6±0.3, 7.1±0.6, and 51.1±3.5, respectively. The colonies produced an average of 27.8±9.1 queens, 131.5±12.4 workers and 332.9±38.7 males. The average development period of the worker bees was 26.4±1.1 days and ranged between 22 and 39 days. Queen production started 18.3±1.8 days after the first worker bees emerged. The switch point occurred 18.9±1.3 days and the competition point occurred 31.8±1.0 days after the first worker bees emerged. The average male to queen ratio was found to be 12:1. There are several ecotypes of B. terrestris in Anatolia. Their survival rates in laboratory conditions are generally high, whereas their pre-oviposition period is short. They produce strong colonies for the pollination of cultivated crops in the greenhouses. | |
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