Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXVI, Issue 1
Written by Cristina ȘURLEA (ȘURLEA-STOICA), Cristina MATEESCU, Georgeta DINIȚĂ, Iuliana CRÎNGANU, Carmen Georgeta NICOLAE
At it is known, the development of larvae from worker bees or queen bees is identical during the first two days of the larval stage. Morphological differences appear starting from the third day of larval development. The food administered to the larvae ex-situ, at regular intervals, forms a dry film upon contact with the larva, under conditions of temperature and humidity similar to those in the hive. The food drying phenomenon is due to the temperature-humidity variation, in the hive these parameters are regulated and monitored by the nurse bees. In the study, different combinations of temperature and humidity values in the controlled environment were tested, so as to increase the number of queens obtained, by increasing food intake. As a conclusion, at a temperature between 35-36ºC and a relative humidity between 75% and 85%, it is possible to obtain 20-25% queens that reach maturity from total number of two days old age larvae from the start of study.
[Read full article] [Citation]
