Herbig Ae stars (HAe) are the precursors of Vega-type systems and, therefore,
crucial objects in planet formation studies. Thus far, only a few disks
associated with HAe stars have been studied using millimetre interferometers.
Our aim is to determine the dust evolution and the lifetime of the disks
associated with Herbig Ae stars. We imaged the continuum emission at 3 mm and
1.3 mm of the Herbig Ae/Be stars BD+61154, RR Tau, VY Mon and LkHa 198 using
the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI). These stars are in the upper end of
the stellar mass range of the Herbig Ae stars (stellar mass greater than 3
solar masses). Our measurements were used to complete the Spectral Energy
Distribution (SED). The modelling of the SED, in particular the FIR-mm part,
allow us to determine the masses and dust properties of these disks. We
detected the disks associated with BD+61154, RR Tau and VY Mon with disk masses
of 0.35 Msun, 0.05 Msun and 0.40 Msun respectively. The disk around LkHa 198
was not detected with an upper limit to the disk mass of 0.004 Msun. We
detected, however, the disks associated with the younger stellar objects LkHa
198--IR and LkHa 198-mm that are located in the vicinity of LkHa 198. The
fitting of the mm part of the SED reveal that the grains in the mid-plane of
the disks around BD+61154, RR Tau and VY Mon have sizes of 1--1000 microns.
Therefore, grains have not grown to centimetre sizes in these disks yet. These
massive (M>3 Msun) and young (about 1 Myr) HAe stars are surrounded by massive
(>0.04 Msun) disks with grains of micron-millimetre sizes. Although grain
growth is proceeding in these disks, their evolutionary stage is prior to the
formation of planetesimals. These disks are less evolved than those detected
around T Tauri and Herbig Be stars