Selection of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies for desirable traits

The experiment on selecting honey bee Apis mellifera L. colonies for desirable traits was conducted at the Apiary of the Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana (India) during 2020-21. The significant variations were observed in various colony parameters viz. colony strength (7.2 to 13.0 no. of bee frames), brood area (1029.42 to 3917.73 cm2), honey store (1196.48 to 2568.71 g), pollen area (314.76 to 692.73 cm2), brood survival rate (76.56 to 91.61.39 %) and paper potness (8.82 to 24.73 %). Ranking of honey bee colonies was developed on the basis of a five-point scoring system for each desirable trait. Colonies were rated based on 1 to 5 point scale. The average score ranged from 1.2 to 4.9. On the basis of top score, 9 colonies (C-6, C-8, C-2, C-20, C-12, C-11, C-5, C-19 and C-16) were selected for further evaluation and mass queen rearing, having average scores ranged from 3.5 to 4.9.