Beehive Microclimate Significantly InfluencesColony Growth, Morphometric and ReproductiveTraits of Honey Bee (<i>Apis mellifera</i> L.)Queens Reared During Winter

Winter poses critical challenges for honey bee colonies, leading to substantial losses.Beekeepers employ diverse strategies, emphasizing good wintering practices, but success varies by region and beekeeping techniques.This research explores how sun exposure affects the dynamics of honey bee colonies and queen-rearing success in late winter.A comparison between shaded colonies and unshaded ones during the winter season was performed to investigate colony behaviors, temperature changes inside and outside the brood nest, royal jelly (RJ)/queen cell, and areas of wax and RJ glands of workers, as well as queen rearing and the quality of the produced queens.The investigations reflected that shaded colonies had lower outside and inside brood nest temperatures than the unshaded colonies, showing a direct link between shading and brood nest temperature.Worker body weight and gland area differed between shaded and unshaded colonies, with workers from unshaded colonies displaying significantly greater body weights and significantly larger glandular areas.The unshaded colonies showed larger sealed brood and stored pollen areas, suggesting that sunlight exposure can affect brood development and foraging activity.Compared with the shaded colonies, the unshaded colonies were significantly surpassed in acceptance rates, RJ production, queen size, and queen characteristics.It could be concluded that colony temperature affects colony growth, and removing shading during Pol.J. Environ.Stud.Vol.XX, No. X (XXXX), 1-10 the winter season can be recommended to encourage the colonies to raise more brood and collect more food, thus increasing the colony's ability to produce high-quality queens.