Observation of the Mating Behavior of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Queens Using Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID): Factors Influencing the Duration and Frequency of Nuptial Flights
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Experimental Section
2.1. Field Work
Calendar week | Gehlberg | Oberhof |
---|---|---|
22 | 13 | 20 |
24 | 13 + 47 | 20 |
26 | 13 | 20 |
27 | 13 + 47 | 20 |
2.2. Data Analysis
Factor | Category 1 | Category 2 | Category 3 | Category 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age of the queens | 5 to 9 days | 10 to 13 days | 14 to 17 days | --- |
Sequence of flights | 1st flights | 2nd flights | 3rd flights | 4th to 7th flights |
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Survival Rates and General Flight Behavior of the Queens
Calendar week | Total number of monitored queens | Queens with recorded flights | Mated queens | Lost queens |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gehlberg | ||||
22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
24 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
26 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
27 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Oberhof | ||||
22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
24 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
26 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
27 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
3.2. Duration and Frequency of Queen Nuptial Flights
Source | Type III sum of squares | Den. d.f. | Mean square | F-value | p-value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Model | 1197.26 | 5 | 239.45 | 57.75 | 0.000 |
Mating apiary | 21.90 | 1 | 21.90 | 5.28 | 0.026 |
Mean temperature | 19.89 | 1 | 19.89 | 4.80 | 0.034 |
Number of drone colonies | 3.67 | 1 | 3.67 | 0.88 | 0.352 |
Mating apiary x Number of drone colonies | 9.17 | 1 | 9.17 | 2.21 | 0.144 |
Error | 190.74 | 46 | 4.15 | ||
Total | 1388.00 | 51 | |||
R2 = 0.863; R2 corrected = 0.848 |
Source | Type III sum of squares | Den. d.f. | Mean square | F-value | p-value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Model | 83,767.52 | 10 | 8376.75 | 50.24 | 0.000 |
Age of the queens | 1198.90 | 2 | 599.45 | 3.60 | 0.029 |
Mating apiary | 34.24 | 1 | 34.24 | 0.21 | 0.651 |
Number of drone colonies | 116.40 | 1 | 116.40 | 0.70 | 0.404 |
Rank of flight | 1359.03 | 3 | 453.01 | 2.72 | 0.045 |
Temperature | 650.91 | 1 | 650.91 | 3.90 | 0.049 |
Mating apiary x Number of drone colonies | 47.45 | 1 | 47.45 | 0.29 | 0.594 |
Error | 41,187.13 | 247 | 166.75 | ||
Total | 124,954.65 | 257 | |||
R2 = 0.670; R2 corrected = 0.657 |
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Heidinger, I.M.M.; Meixner, M.D.; Berg, S.; Büchler, R. Observation of the Mating Behavior of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Queens Using Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID): Factors Influencing the Duration and Frequency of Nuptial Flights. Insects 2014, 5, 513-527. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects5030513
Heidinger IMM, Meixner MD, Berg S, Büchler R. Observation of the Mating Behavior of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Queens Using Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID): Factors Influencing the Duration and Frequency of Nuptial Flights. Insects. 2014; 5(3):513-527. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects5030513
Chicago/Turabian StyleHeidinger, Ina Monika Margret, Marina Doris Meixner, Stefan Berg, and Ralph Büchler. 2014. "Observation of the Mating Behavior of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Queens Using Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID): Factors Influencing the Duration and Frequency of Nuptial Flights" Insects 5, no. 3: 513-527. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects5030513
APA StyleHeidinger, I. M. M., Meixner, M. D., Berg, S., & Büchler, R. (2014). Observation of the Mating Behavior of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Queens Using Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID): Factors Influencing the Duration and Frequency of Nuptial Flights. Insects, 5(3), 513-527. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects5030513