Neue Flügelmessergebnisse Belgische Dunkle Biene

For this little research I investigated the wings of 60 worker bees of a colony from which all the worker bees have a typical mellifera-morphology (see photo, however the photo is made with a smartphone so the quality is not of the best). The queen is a fresh one of this year (mated in the third week of May) and is a daughter of the queen from which Kai investigated a sample last year (http://www.nordbiene.de/dunkle…lgien-chimay-probe-1.html). The results of the investigation:

Cubitalindex: 10 of the 60 wings (which is approximately 17%) have a CI > 1.90; the maximumvalue is 2.00, this value is reached 3 times.

Discoidalshift: all wings have a negative discoidalshift.

Hantalindex: 12 of the 60 wings (which is 20%) have a HI > 0.925; the maximumvalue is 0.949, this value is reached 2 times.

In general, the population of the Belgian Dark Honeybee is a bit hybridized: according to genetic research carried out by Lionel Garnery of the French National Institute for Scientific Research the population is hybridised for 14% on the level of mitochondrial DNA and for 6% on the level of nuclear DNA. However, that does not mean that all colonies of that population are hybridized by definition. I believe that with the right breeding strategy it is possible to preserve the Belgian heritage of our Dark Honeybee and looking at the given results, I think my colleagues and me are on the right track

The last photo is taken yesterday when I had some Dutch beekeepers on visit, they were pleasantly surprised by the gentleness of the Belgian A.m.m.

Herzliche Grüße,
Dylan

[attachment=0]datenblatt-fluegeluntersuchungen.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]Belgische Dunkle Biene.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=2]Cubitalindex and discoidalshift.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=3]Correlation Hantalindex - Discoidalshift.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=4]Zeelanders.JPG[/attachment]

Hi Ole

That is 100% correct. The only way to get natural mated pure black queens in Belgium is to let them mate in the reserve of Chimay (in South-West Belgium) which has a radius of about 10 km in which it is forbidden to work with other beeraces than the native Dark Honeybee. Queens (= daughters from a "Reinzuchtkönigin") which are mated at my place (or elsewhere out of the reserve) are considered to be "F1-Königinnen", queens (= also daughters from a "Reinzuchtkönigin") which are mated in Chimay are considered to be new "Reinzuchtköninginnen" (worker bees from those last queens are then subjected to a wing analysis like I showed here).

Cheers,
Dylan

Ewout

I should conclude that the purity of the examined colony is at least 80% because the deviation of the 12 wings for HI is less than 0.025 (and so very small) and DV and CI are totally OK.

The queen of the examined colony is for me indeed a "Reinzuchtkönigin", I thought that was clear (but it is never easy to tell all clear when it is not your motherlanguage of course).

Cheers,
Dylan