Difference between behaviour of the bees of Russian and Carnica breeds during wintering, found with the use of Apivox Auditor.
In early spring new tests of wintering families gave us very interesting results. When the sun warms the hives, the bees inside starts their usual in-hive works, which are not different from the summer ones. Using our device for acoustic control of bee families Apivox Auditor, we could see the usual set of in-hive signals - signals of bees performing different jobs and the signals of passive bees resting in the warmest upper part of the hive, under the textile coverage of the frames. We could also see the signals of ventilation. But, closer to sunset, it became colder, and all the in-hive works ceased, and the bees again returned to the almost silent heating of their winter "ball". When working with bees of the Carnica breed and with Russian crossbreeds, we noticed differences in behavior and strength of all signals between these breeds. The bees of the Russian breed are louder, and they almost always perform some in-hive works. Signals of Russian bees are almost always the same strength and well audible to our microphones. Signals of bees of the Carnica breed are gaining strength in periods, when it becomes warmer, and when it becomes colder the signals subside and are barely audible. Sometimes our microphones cannot hear them at all. We believe that this is due to the fact that, according to scientists, the bees of breeds which originally lived in the mountains, and to which the Grey Caucasian Mountain bee breed belongs, and also apparently the Carnica breed too, require for normal in-hive life temperatures that are 5-6 degrees lower than the bees of the Russian breed. This is why Russian bees have to spend more energy and forces for wintering, practically constantly being engaged in the distribution of food and active heating. Therefore, their signals are always loud and always contain peaks in the range, corresponding to the performance of various in-hive works. Bees of the Carnica breed require less energy and food, so the peaks in the range of work can almost completely disappear or are very low, but the number of passive bees can be significant. When the temperature decreases, the work ceases, and the bees pass to the process of heating of their winter "ball", which practically does not cause the generation of sound signals. The sound is so quiet that in comparison with the bees of the Russian breed it seems that the hive is empty. So, it is possible, such features of behaviour can be used for determination of breed of bees and predisposition of crossbreeds to the behaviour type of one or another clean breed.
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