<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Winter honey bee losses were evaluated during the two overwintering periods of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. The research included dead bee workers that fell on the hive bottom board (debris) and the ones that flew out of the hive. Differences were observed in the number of bees fallen as debris between the two periods, whereas the number of bees flying out was similar in both years. No differences were found between the numbers of dead bees in strong and weak colonies. The percentage of bees flying out of the colony increased in the presence of Nosema spores, Varroa infestation, increased average air temperature, and insolation during the day. In addition, both the presence of Nosema and insolation during the day had an impact on the number of bees that died and fell on the hive board.</p></abstract>

Winter honey bee losses were evaluated during the two overwintering periods of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. The research included dead bee workers that fell on the hive bottom board (debris) and the ones that flew out of the hive. Differences were observed in the number of bees fallen as debris between the two periods, whereas the number of bees flying out was similar in both years. No differences were found between the numbers of dead bees in strong and weak colonies. The percentage of bees flying out of the colony increased in the presence of Nosema spores, Varroa infestation, increased average air temperature, and insolation during the day. In addition, both the presence of Nosema and insolation during the day had an impact on the number of bees that died and fell on the hive board.

Causes and Scale of Winter Flights in Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera Carnica ) Colonies

Research Institute of Horticulture, Apiculture Division, Kazimierska 2, 24-100 Puławy, Poland

Journal of Apicultural Science

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Winter honey bee losses were evaluated during the two overwintering periods of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. The research included dead bee workers that fell on the...

Causes and Scale of Winter Flights in Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera Carnica ) Colonies

Published Online: May 27, 2014

Page range: 135 - 143

Received: Dec 19, 2013

Accepted: Apr 17, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jas-2014-0014

Keywords
bees fallen as debris, bees flying out in winter, colony overwintering, Nosema spp., Varroa destructor, winter losses of bees

© by Paweł Węgrzynowicz

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Causes and Scale of Winter Flights in Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera Carnica ) Colonies

Published Online: May 27, 2014

Page range: 135 - 143

Received: Dec 19, 2013

Accepted: Apr 17, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jas-2014-0014

Keywordsbees fallen as debris, bees flying out in winter, colony overwintering, Nosema spp., Varroa destructor, winter losses of bees

© by Paweł Węgrzynowicz

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords
bees fallen as debris, bees flying out in winter, colony overwintering, Nosema spp., Varroa destructor, winter losses of bees