Evaluation of the Western Australian queen bee breeding program

Abstract

Agriculture Western Australia's former Queen Bee Breeding Program (QBBP) was successful in significantly raising the productivity of honey bee colonies for those beekeepers who regularly purchased queen bees from the program. The increased productivity was measured through honey production. Over 2 nectar flows, colonies headed by queens purchased from the breeding program (group 2) showed a 35% increase in honey production over unselected colonies (group 1-not purchased from the QBBP). Over individual nectar flows, colonies headed by queens purchased from the breeding program showed a 22% increase in honey production from a Eucalyptus calophylla nectar flow, and for a second protracted winter nectar flow from coastal heath they also produced 46% more honey than unselected queen bees. Honey production (kg/colony.day) from Eucalyptus calophylla was 0.95 and 1.13 kg for groups 1 and 2, respectively. Honey production from the coastal heath was 0.27 and 0.4 kg/colony.day for groups 1 and 2, respectively. Results were projected for 1 year and scaled up to represent a commercial apiary of 400 colonies. According to estimates from the data, group 2 beekeepers should have benefited from the QBBP by being able to produce 24 t of honey from their apiaries, valued in excess of $A32 000, more than group 1 beekeepers.