Evaluation of the performance of improved Iranian honey bee queens "Aram" with native queens and their hybrids in the climatic conditions of Kurdistan province

Introduction: Honey bees are vital to the economy of the people of Kurdistan Province, Iran. They produce honey and other hive products like royal jelly, wax, venom, and collect pollen and propolis. They also provide food security, create jobs in secondary industries, and prevent rural migration to cities. In addition to their significant role in pollination, they also increase the quantity and quality of agricultural products, develop and expand forests and pastures, preserve biodiversity, and increase income. Despite all these economic and social benefits, honeybee colonies and the beekeeping profession in Iran have been adversely affected by several adverse factors, one of the most important of which is the lack of access for beekeepers to improved, highly productive, and economical queens. The use of improved queens with desirable functional and behavioral traits is one of the most important factors of success in beekeeping. The current study was conducted to evaluate the performance of improved Iranian honey bee queens, "Aram", with native queens and their hybrids in three apiaries located in different climates of Kurdistan province during 2022-2023.
Materials and methods: The present study was conducted in the form of a factorial experiment (3×3) and based on a completely randomized design with nine treatments and five replications. The treatments included improved and mated queens (improved and mated queens in the central core of the Iranian honey bee breeding plan), hybrid queens (improved and mated queens in the apiaries of Kurdistan province), and native queens (as control). In total, the current study was carried out on 45 honey bee colonies. After the preparation of colonies in each apiary and the successful introduction of queens, the colonies were homogenized in terms of population (adults and brood) and honey storage according to standard instructions. In the present study, the traits of calmness behavior, swarming, homozygosity of sex alleles, population (adults and brood), and honey production were evaluated in the studied bee colonies in each apiary. Data analysis was conducted by SAS 9.4 software.
Results and discussion: Variance analysis results of calmness trait showed that the effect of treatment (P<0.01), queen (P<0.01), and the apiary (P<0.05) were significant on the calmness trait of the studied honey bee colonies. Based on the mean comparison results, the highest amount of this trait, with an average of 0.4 ± 0.12 related to the improved queens in the apiary located in the Saral region, and the lowest with an average of 1.7 ± 0.19 related to the native queens in the apiary located in the Genghis Ghalea village. Variance analysis results of swarming trait showed that the effect of treatment, apiary, queen, and the interaction effect of apiary × queen were significant on the swarming trait of the studied honey bee colonies (P<0.01). Based on the mean comparison results, the highest rate of swarming trait with an average of 20 queen cells is related to the native queens of apiary 2 (an apiary located in the Qazalali village), and the lowest rate of this trait with an average of 0.2 queen cells is related to the improved queens of apiary 2 (an apiary located in the Qazalali village). Variance analysis results of homozygosity of sex alleles showed that the effect of treatment and the interaction effect of apiary × queen (P<0.01) and the effect of apiary and queen (P<0.05) were significant on homozygosity of sex alleles of honey bee colonies in the studied apiaries. Based on the mean comparison results, the highest and lowest homozygosity of sex alleles was related to the improved queens of the third apiary (the apiary located in the Saral area) and the hybrid queens of the second apiary (the apiary located in the Qazalali village), respectively. Variance analysis results of the adult population trait showed that the effect of treatment and queen (P<0.01), and the apiary and the interaction effects of queen × apiary (P<0.05) were significant on the adult population trait of the studied honey bee colonies. Based on the mean comparison results, the highest amount of adult population was observed in improved queens of apiary 3, and the lowest in native queens of apiary 3 (apiary located in the Saral region). Variance analysis results of brood population trait showed that the effect of treatment, apiary, queen, and the interaction effects of apiary × queen were significant on the brood population of the studied honey bee colonies (P<0.01). Based on the mean comparison results, the highest average of this trait was related to the improved queens in apiary 3 (the apiary located in the Saral area), and the lowest was related to the native queens of apiary 1 (the apiary located in the Genghis Ghalea village). Variance analysis results of the honey production trait showed that the effect of treatment, apiary, and queen was significant on the honey production trait of honey bee colonies of the studied apiaries (P<0.01). Based on the mean comparison results, the highest production of honey, with an average of 8.2 kg, is related to the improved queens of the second apiary (the apiary located in the Qazalali village), and the lowest, with an average of 3.4 kg, is related to the native queens of the third apiary (the apiary located in the Saral region).
Conclusions: Considering the superiority and significant improvements of the improved queens of the Iranian honey bee breeding plan in the majority of the traits studied in the current research, it can be concluded that breeding has been effective in improving the target traits. Also, it can be suggested to use improved queens of Iranian honey bees to increase the performance of honey bee colonies in the country.