EFFECT OF A PHEROMONE SWARM-ATTRACTING PRODUCT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF BEES IN THE AUTUMN PERIOD AND WINTERING INDICATORS

The article presents data on the effect of the pheromone swarm-attracting product Apimil on the development of bees in the autumn period and wintering indicators. The object of the study was two groups of queens of bee colonies of the Central Russian bee breed of the same strength and age in typical twelve-frame hives with ten bee colonies in each. The bees of the experimental group were fed sugar syrup with the addition of Apimil product, developed on the basis of a synthetic analogue of the honey bee queen pheromone and the pheromones of the Nasonov gland - geraniol, citral, etc. The control group was fed sugar syrup without the addition of a stimulating product. Autumn development was assessed by the strength of families (in streets, i.e. the number of inter-frame spaces occupied by bees) and the amount of sealed brood (calculated using a mesh frame with 5 cm2 cells); wintering results were determined by the strength of families (in the number of streets at the time of bringing the bees out of the wintering house), feed consumption (honey and bee bread in kg) during the winter, the mass of dead bees (the number of bees that died during the winter period in g) and the wear of the nests (determined by a point assessment). Studies have shown that feeding bees with Apimil drug as part of sugar syrup causes a stimulating effect on the egg-laying of queens, which causes a strengthening of bee families during autumn growth (the number of streets in the experimental group at the time of bringing the bee hives into the wintering house was 17.7% more than in the control), and also improves the results of wintering, i.e. a higher survival rate of bees, lower feed consumption per unit mass and lower aging of bees in the experimental group were observed. Consequently, the swarming pheromone preparation Apimil improves autumn development and wintering indicators of bee colonies.