The influence of different bee traps on undertaking behaviour of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and development of a new trap

Abstract

-In this study the efficiency of bee traps used to evaluate mortality in a bee colony and their influence on undertaking behaviour was tested in twelve colonies of Apis mellifera L. Four types of bee traps (Original-Gary-Trap, a Modified-Gary-Trap, the IPSAB-Trap and the Muenster-Trap), commonly used in practical research, were compared to each other and to control colonies without a trap. The use of different bee traps led to incomparable results. In the Original-Gary-Trap, many stray bees were trapped and eventually died within the glass collecting jars, leading to artificially high estimates of mortality. Bees removed the dead bees from the Modified-Gary-Trap, especially during good flight conditions. Dead bees disappeared from the IPSAB-Trap because of predators and wind. Both Gary-Traps had a negative effect on undertaking behaviour; the number of behavioural components involved in removing a dead bee from the colony was large and thus, undertaking took a long time. In IPSAB-Trap, the undertaker bees showed the same number of behavioural components and took similar times to remove dead bees as the control colonies without traps. The newly developed Muenster-Trap, equipped with an easily accessible hive entrance, a collecting box for dead bees and an outlet for stray bees, gave a significantly improved performance.Apis mellifera / undertaking behaviour / bee traps / mortality evaluation 315 Apidologie 33 (2002) 315-326

Miscellaneous standard methods forApis melliferaresearch

“…No negative interference with colony activity was reported in these traps. The recovery rates of dead bees in the Münster trap (Illies et al, 1999(Illies et al, , 2002 were somewhat lower than some of the other traps (Table 16), but the artificial honey bee mortality resulting from the use of this trap was lower. As a cheaper alternative, the underbasket trap can be used since it does not interfere with the normal activity of the hive and reportedly has a very good recovery rate of dead bees (Table 16).…”

“…Many dead bee traps have been designed for Langstroth and Dadant type hives but currently the Todd, Gary, Münster and underbasket dead bee traps are the most frequently used (Table 16) (Illies et al, 2002;Porrini et al, 2002a). However, preliminary data on the performance of an experimental dead bee trap called the barrier trap indicates high efficiency (Porrini et al, 2002b).…”

“…We recommend using the Münster trap (Illies et al, 1999(Illies et al, , 2002, the underbasket trap (Accorti et al, 1991) and the trap for small hives (Hendriksma and Härtel, 2010). No negative interference with colony activity was reported in these traps.…”

Dead or Alive: Deformed Wing Virus and Varroa destructor Reduce the Life Span of Winter Honeybees

“…In September, 500 freshly emerged workers were collected from each of the 29 experimental colonies, given colony-specific marks on the thorax using commercial acrylic paint, and reintroduced into their respective mother colonies. Each hive entrance was then equipped with modified Münster bee traps (35). On a daily basis, all dead bees (including marked and unmarked ones) were collected from these traps and immediately frozen at Ϫ20°C.…”

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Flumethrin 275 mg Bee-hive Strips (PolyVar Yellow®) against Varroa destructor in Naturally Infested Honey Bee Colonies in a Controlled Study

“…These traps have been described and evaluated in Illies et al (2002). Undertaker bees carrying dead bees have to pass through metal netting, which causes them to lose the dead bee, which falls down into a drawer (Fig.…”