Effect of queen cell size on morphometric characteristics of queen honey bees (Apis mellifera ligustica)

Abstract

Rearing techniques are important to determine a successful honey bee production. Queen cell cup size may affect the acceptance rate of grafted larvae and queen’s size, which in turn may influence the quality of the colonies. The present study compared the effect of different queen cell cup sizes (8.0 vs 9.0 mm diameter) on morphometric characteristics of queen honey bees. Sixty-five larvae were grafted to each treatment. Larvae transfer was carried out five times, in June and August 2019. Head, thorax and abdomen width of the newly emerged queens were measured using an electronic calliper, and the weight of each of the three segments was recorded using a precision scale. All morphometric traits measured on the accepted larvae were significantly (p < .001) higher in queens raised in larger cell cups, except for head width. Principal Component Analysis on morphometric traits shows higher values on PC1 (58.4% of explained variance) for queens raised in larger cell cups. Highest loadings were found for variables related to weight of the three parts. Among the many factors affecting queen’s quality, cell cup size seems to have a positive effect on queens’ body parts weights.HIGHLIGHTS Increasing the standard diameter of conventional cell cups allows rearing heavier and larger honey bee queens. The grafting period affects morphometric parameters, with higher size and body weight in the last decade of June.

Keywords

• honey bee
• queen quality
• virgin queen
• cell cup size
• queen morphometric traits