Researches on the influence exerted by beehive type on bee family hibernation

Abstract

This work presents the results of hibernation of bee colonies maintained in multi-storied beehives endowed with anti-varroa ground, made of wood and polystyrene Dadant. The experiments were carried out Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine „King Michael the Ist” from Timişoara, Romania, between the 1st of November 2016 and 1st of March 2017. The biological material was represented by 20 Apis mellifera carpatica bee colonies, divided in two experimental variants, 10 colonies/batch, with similar power and same-age queens.  During the experiment, we observed the bee amount at the start of hibernation; the bee amount at the end of hibernation; the evolution of feed intake and losses caused by mortality. At the end of the experiment, we determined a bigger bee amount in the polystyrene Dadant beehives, significantly lower losses caused by mortality from a statistical point of view (p<0.001) and lower feed intake with 12.04% compared with the bee families maintained in the wooden multi-storied beehives