Department of Bee Breeding

The Department of Bee Breeding works on improvement of the quality of bees through the selection, especially related to the rearing and instrumental insemination of bee queens.
Studies conducted in the department concern the influence of various factors on the quality and value of instrumentally inseminated queens (keeping of drones before insemination, sperm collection and conservation, physiological status of queens, conditions of keeping queens before and after insemination, methods of queens introduction into colonies, initiation of oviposition, body injuries to queens, etc.).
We also rear pure-lines of bees selected in the breeding apiary of the department. These include: Apis mellifera caucasica - Puławska line, Apis mellifera carnica - Marynka line and Apis mellifera carnica - GR-1 line distinguished by a good hygienic behaviour. Material from the breeding apiary is distributed to domestic apiaries. Models for discrimination of Caucasica, Carnica and native Black bees based on morphological features of workers (microscopic and computing measurements) were developed in the department. Each year the discrimination of populations of bees kept in Polish apiaries are conducted.