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Phenotypic correlations between efficiency and behaviour of honey bee colonies (Apis niellifera carnica)

 

 

K. BienefeldI,II; F. PirchnerI

ILehrstuhl für Tierzucht, TU München, 8050 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
IIPresent address: Länderinstitut für Bienenkunde, F. - Engels - Str. 32, 0-1406 hohen Nevendorf, Germany. Send correspondence to K.B

 

 

ABSTRACT

Data from performance tests of 5342 honey bee colonies of Apis mellifera carnica were used to calculate the phenotypic correlations between several colony characters. Correlations between partial honey yields within year were medium to poor. The phenotypic relation between total honey yields of different years was 0.2. The correlations between the subjectively judged traits, indicating the ability to perform (wintering ability, spring development etc.) and natural honey and wax production, respectively, were found to between 0.2 and 0.5. Efficiency of colonies and behaviour showed no significant relationships. The cubital index did not correlate with the other characters measured.

Keywords: Behaviour; Bee; Apis mellifera carnica.

 

 

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