Effects of different feeding methods and weight of queen after diapause on colony development and reproductive strategies in Bombus terrestris

ABSTRACT EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT FEEDING METHODS AND WEIGHT OF QUEEN AFTER DIAPAUSE ON COLONY DEVELOPMENT AND REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGBES IN Bombus terrestris Ayhan GÖSTERİT M.S. Thesis in Department of Animal Science Adviser: Assoc Prof. Dr. Fehmi GÜREL December 2002, 55 Pages This study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding with pollen cake containing royal jelly and weight of the queen after diapause on colony development and reproductive strategies in Bombus terrestris used widely in greenhouse recent years. In this experiment 125 mated queens were used. 69 of these queens were caught from field in Mediterranean region in Turkey. The rest were taken from commercial company. All queens were weighted and put in individual cages. Queens were fed at 28- 30 °C and 50-60 % R.H. in the dark room. About half of the queens were fed with pollen cake containing 10 % royal jelly. The other queens were fed normal pollen cake. All queens and colonies were suplied with sugar solution containing 50 % sugar and 50 % water. Colony initiation, number of eggscups and number of workers in the first, second and third brood, emergence of male and queen, time of switch and competition point, total number of male and total number of queen, numerical sex ratio, total pollen consumption of colonies and colony life span were determined during the experiment. Also correlation coefficient between these characteristics were calculated. The average weight of queens after diapause from field was 0.79 ± 0.014 g whereas the average weight of queen from commercial company was 0.74 ± 0.012 g. The difference between weight öf queens caught from field and taken from commercial company was significant (PO.05). But effect of weight of queen after diapause on colony development was not significant. Queens that were fed with pollen cake containing royal jelly did not establish colony. Larvae that were fed this cake died before emergence. But 87 % of queens that were fed with normal pollen cake egg laid and 33 % of these queens established healty colonies. The colonies of queens from commercial company produced 60.8 ± 12.7 young queens whereas no queens were produced in the colonies of field queens. Competition point in colonies of queens from commercial company was later than those of from field (PO.05). KEYWORDS: Bombus terrestris, rearing, weight of queen, royal jelly, feeding, colony developmental patterns. COMMITEE: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fehmi GÜREL ProfDr. AtilaYANIKO?LU AssistProf. Dr. M. Soner BALCIO?LU ıı