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Bee Breeding activity in Poland

Presentation · August 2018

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4 authors, including:

Malgorzata Bienkowska Jerzy Wilde

Research Institute of Horticulture in Skierniewice University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
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 Bee breeding activity
in Poland

Małgorzata Bieńkowska1, Jerzy Wilde2, Beata Panasiuk1,

Dariusz Gerula1
1Research Institute of Horticulture Apiculture Division in Puławy,

2University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Apiculture Department

Poland
The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala
12-15th July 2018
 Present situation of beekeeping in
Structure ofPoland
apiary size in Poland
• The number
60 of bee colonies in Poland is about 1 200 000.
• The average size of apiary is 25 bee colonies.
• The most
40 of apiaries (97.4%) are small or middle (number of bee

colonies ≤ 80). There is just 2.58% of big apiaries (over 80 bee

%

26,21 27,19
colonies). They own
24,41151 150 bee colonies (13.46% of all bee
colonies
20 in Poland).
12,25
• The average number of bee colonies7,47
is 3.68 per 1 km2 and it is
higher than average in UE (2.9% per 1 km2).2,05 0,53
0
to 5 from 6 to 10 from 11 to 20 from 11 to 50 from 50 to 80 from 81 to 150 >150

Size of apiary, number of bee colonies

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
 Schema of honeybee breading in Poland
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural National Animal Breeding Centre
Development
Inspection Evaluation of traits
National Program of Honeybee and breeding values
Breeding Herd books of
bee breeding
lines

Breeding Apiaries – Breeding Programs

Programs of genetic Programs of Genetic Crossbreeding Programs

improvment Resources Protection

Breeding Honeybee Lines Hybrid Register for Hybrid

Lines Lines
A.m.carnica A.m.caucasica A.m.mellifera

Production of
honeybee
queens

Commercial Apiaries
The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala
12-15th July 2018
 The number of registered breeding apiaries
(2008-2017)

Program 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Program of
genetic
improvement 27 27 28 31 30 29 29 29 29 29
of the bees
Black Bee
Genetic
Resources
Conservation
3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
Programs

Crossbreedin
g programs 34 34 38 40 40 43 42 40 39 39
Total 64 64 69 74 73 75 75 73 72 72

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
 The number of breeding lines in stationary
assessments (2008-2017)
Stationary
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
assessments
Program of
genetic
improvement of 47 50 51 51 51 48 47 46 45 47*
the bees
Black Bee
Genetic
Resources
Conservation
4 4 4 4 4 4 5** 5 5 5
Programs
Crossbreeding
programs 24 26 27 29 28 28 26 27 28 26
Total 75 80 82 84 83 80 78 78 78 79
*- 39 lines of A.m.carnica (76%); 8 lines of A.m.caucasica (16%);
** - 4 lines A. m.mellifera, 1 line of A.m.carnica

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
• The selection of breeding material is conducted in breeding apiaries based on artifcial insemination.
Over 95% of breeding apiaries in Poland use instrumental insemination to produce breeding queens,
and also queens for commercial colonies. Instrumental insemination with the semen of selected breeds
and isolated drones guarantees the purity of mating and selection. In Poland instrumental insemination
of bee queens is used not only for breeding purposes but also on a large scale for common beekeepers,
• The breeding programs have two steps of evaluation: stationary queen evaluation in breeding apiaries
and field evaluation in commercial apiaries.
• Evaluated traits: honey yield and spring development, swarming, wintering and gentleness, Varroa
infestation, hygienic behavior.

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
 The number of bee queens in stationary
assesment
2500
433
2000 397 430 391 361
318 394 389
454
238
191 268 256 368 361
1500 494 230 366 409

213
1000
1450 1539 1422
1305 1384 1357 1300 1319 1276
986
500
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Programs of genetic resources protection
Programs of honeybee cross-breeding
Programs of honeybee genetic improvement

Stationary assessments carried out between 2008 and 2017 revealed similar numbers of queens, ranging from 1693
queens in 2008 to 2210 queens in 2011 . The numbers of queens evaluated in genetic improvement and crossbreeding
programs were observed to fall, with a simultaneous rise in the numbers of queens assessed in genetic pool protection
programs. The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala
12-15th July 2018
 The number of the queens entry in the herd books
evaluated in registered breeding apiaries (2008-2017)

1200
175 193 259
185
1000 219 235
285
88 79
181 174 91 95
79 98
800 175 81
72 89
87
600
860 865
815 797
400 676 673
785 767 731
611

200

0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
A.m.carnica A.m.caucasica A.m.mellifera

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
 Production of honey bee queens in registered breeding
apiaries in Poland

Instrumentally
Total produced queens Virgin queens Naturally mated
inseminated queens

Apis mellifera
180 363 122 272 37866 20 225
carnica
Apis mellifera
7 378 3946 1266 2 166
caucasica
Apis mellifera
2 115 1031 318 766
mellifera
Apis mellifera
719 462 238 19
ligustica

Total
190 575 127 711 39 688 23 176

Totally in Poland beekeepers produce 282 256 queens, but registered breeders
(not all) produce only 68% of queens (190 575). Unregistered producers sell 37
130 Buckfast and 54 551 A.m carnica queens, that is about 32%.
The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala
12-15th July 2018
 Pomorskie – 44,4
Warmińsko-mazurskie – 56,4

Zachodniopomorskie – 29,6
Podlaskie – 49.7
Kujawsko-pomorskie – 58.6

Mazowieckie – 47.7
Lubuskie – 45,7 Wielkopolskie – 48.6

Łódzkie – 40.5
Lubelskie – 57,6
Dolnośląskie - 65,5

Świętokrzyskie - 34,4
Opolskie – 57,1

Śląskie - 63,1

Podkarpackie – 59.6
Małopolskie - 50,1

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
 The number of apiaries, sisters group and queens in field
evaluation 2008-2017
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Field assessment

The number of
apiaries
132 126 121 105 106 95 105 95 96 85

The number of sisters

group
155 141 155 138 132 119 140 122 129 107

The number of
queens (F1 1464 1381 1522 1296 1324 1212 1443 1273 1354 1142
generation)

Apart from the stationary evaluation, the practical/production value assessment of bees in Poland includes field
analyses of the offspring of breeding queens entered in the Herd Books. The assessment is used by the breeders to
supplement information on the practical and breeding value of queen bees selected within bee breeding lines and on
the proposed matings. The field assessment results published by KCHZ (National Anial Breeding Centre) can also be
used by any beekeepers to enable them to choose useful queens from the lines and matings that promise desirable
biological parameters and are optimally suitable as regards their production value.
The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala
12-15th July 2018
 Bee races kept in particular regions
% Buckfast % tylko car % tylko cau % tylko M
% car i cau % car + cau + M %tylko mieszańce

100% 21,6
80%
9,2
60% 14,7
4,1
40%
43,9
20%

0% 4,3

The study performed between 2008 and 2017 by the Research Institute of Horticulture, Apiculture Division in Pulawy, Department of Bee Breeding revealed about
45% beekeepers in Poland used Apis mellifera carnica bees in their apiaries, 3.8% apiaries used only A.m.caucasica, and 14% apiaries employed A.m.mellifera only.
The remaining apiaries housed bees representing two races (A.m.carnica and A.m.caucasica: 8.6%) or three races (A.m.carnica, caucasica and mellifera: 2.1%). 22%
apiaries employed pure-bred bees and specific hybrids. According to beekeeper statements, the years 2008-2017 already saw a growing interest in bees representing
the synthetic Buckfast line, with a steady rise in the population of this line observed since 2007. However, most commercial and hobbyist apiaries introduce bees of
various races and their hybrids. Northern voivodeships and Podlasie have the most apiaries in which the beekeepers maintain only the Central European Bee (ranging
form 24% to 39%), southern and central voivodeships mostly keep Apis mellifera carnica (ranging from 56% to 98%). The data are estimates, based on surveys
carried out in previous years as, unfortunately, Poland does not have a monitoring system of trends in the sizes of particular bee populations and their zoning in use.

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
 Thanks for
your
attention

The SICAMM dark bee conference, Mustiala

12-15th July 2018
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