Improvement of honey bees for intensification of wax production
Abstract
Obtaining the maximum amount of wax from honey bees is the basis of beekeeping technological processes. However, the intensification of its production leads to partial exhaustion of the honey bee's body. Therefore, today the question of researching factors that will contribute to their body's recovery is relevant. The article provides data on the influence of the strength of colonies, the type, and the amount of feed on the body's functional state of honey bees when obtaining wax. The obtained research results indicate that wax secretion is proportionally dependent on the presence in nature and the intensity of carbohydrate (nectar, sugar syrup) and protein (pollen) food entering the nest. As daily nectar intake increases for every 250 g, the wax productivity of a 700 g family increases by an average of 43.18 g (from 35.62 to 54.14 g). When receiving pollen in the amount of 500–550 g, wax secretion is 190–210 g. In the complete absence of honey collection, wax secretion in bees stops. It was established that a large amount of honeycombed honey practically does not affect the bees' wax secretion. At the same level of food supply, with an increase in the strength of the family, its total wax secretion increases due to an increase in the number of wax-producing workers. From colonies weighing 1.5 and 4.5 kg, 667.05 and 1484.55 g of wax were obtained, respectively. At the same time, the individual wax-secreting activity, which is calculated per unit mass of workers, decreases from 444.7 g to 329.9 g of wax/1 kg of bees. This is due to a decrease in the nutrition of wax-producing individuals, as the number of bees increases with the same intensity of carbohydrate food entering the nest. It was also established that the amount of wax released simultaneously is proportional to the number of young bees in the colonies.
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