Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

COMPARATIVE OVIPOSITION AND HATCHABILITY IN KARL JENTER AND CUPKIT APPARATUS IN VARIED BEE STRENGTH APIS MELLIFERA BREEDER COLONIES

Navneet Kaur Dhaliwal, Jaspal Singh and Pardeep K. Chhuneja

Abstract

Effect of bee strength (10, 15 and 20 bee-frames) of Apis mellifera breeder colony on egg laying and hatchability in Cupkit and Karl Jenter apparatus was studied. Egg laying and hatchability was the best in 20 bee-frame strength breeder colonies and it was significantly better than in 10 bee-frame strength colonies. The best egg laying (97.88 - 99.11%) and hatchability (80.00 and 83.63 %) in these apparatuses in 20 bee-frame breeder colonies was at par. Confinement of queen bee in these apparatuses was successfully reduced by 8 h as the maximum egg laying was achieved in 16 h instead of 24 h confinement of the queen bee in earlier practice.