Performance Comparison of Constituted Colonies by Artificial Swarm and Packaged Bees in Different Conditions

Objective: In this study, the performances of the colonies formed with the artificial swarm and package bee were evaluated in Yozgat, Edirne and İzmir conditions. Material and Methods: The experiment was carried out in 132 colonies with a total of 11 groups consisting of 12 artificial swarm, package bee production and control colonies, in 2016. Colonies were examined in terms of number of combs covered with bees, brood area and honey yield parameters. Results: Interactions of date and application were found to be important in terms of brood area and number of combs covered with bees in Edirne group (P<0.05). The differences and interactions for brood areas and number of combs covered with bees between artificial swarm and package bee applications were not significant in Izmir group (P>0.05). The differences between the experimental groups for brood area were not significant (P>0.05) whereas the application and date interaction was significant (P<0.05) in Yozgat group. In terms of the number of combs covered with bees, differences between application and application x date interactions were significant (P<0.05). The control group and package bee group were placed in the first group and found similar for number of combs covered with bees. Conclusion: There was a significant difference determined in applications for honey yield between applications in Edirne and Yozgat groups, but no difference was found in Izmir group. The results of the study exhibit that package beekeeping is more advantageous for beekeeping enterprises compared to other applications