Artificial insemination of queen bees. Artificial insemination of queens Insemination of queen bees

Fertilization of the uterus. Mating pope with drones

It is not enough that the bees breed a young queen; she is not suitable for anything until she copulates and becomes fertilized with a drone: only by copulating with a drone does she become completely fertile, i.e. capable of carrying bee and drone eggs, and we call such a fetal queen. If, for some reason, the young queen could not copulate with the drone, then she either remains completely sterile and will not bear any eggs, and we will call such a one a barren one, or she will be able to carry only drone eggs, and we call such a one a drone queen.

So, there are three types of queens: a) fertile, bearing testicles of both sexes, i.e. bees and drones, and such are good queens; b) barn queens, which do not carry any eggs, and c) drone queens, which carry only drone eggs. Both of the latter are useless.

A family with a fertile queen will be good, because such a queen reproduces bees and is constantly maintained in her strength. But the one in which the barn or drone queen will not survive in any case and must die is the same as if it does not have a queen: neither barn nor drone queens reproduce bees, and therefore if the previous bees die out and die, the family must be destroyed .

The queen never copulates with the drone in the hive, but always outside it and high in the air. A young queen with damaged wings and which cannot fly is not suitable for anything. Such a one, having flown out with a drone, will fall to the ground and will not return to the hive, or, feeling its disability, will not dare to fly out, and therefore cannot be fertilized. In both cases, the family must certainly die.

You can easily verify this if you cut off one wing of a young queen that has just emerged from the queen cell and make sure that every time she goes to the drone and falls to the ground, you pick her up and put her back into the hive. This queen will finally stop crawling out, and even if the hive is full of drones, she remains unfertilized and will never carry bee eggs.

The queen copulates in the air not necessarily with a drone from her own hive, but with every one she meets, even from someone else’s hive. Therefore, she can be fertilized, even if there were not a single drone in her hive, as long as there were some in other families. She can even be fertilized by a drone from another apiary, even a distant one, because both the queen and the drones fly more than two kilometers from the apiary.

Due to the fact that the queen cannot be fertilized without a drone, young queens hatched in early spring, when there are no drones in the apiary, must remain infertile. They will constantly fly out to meet the drones, but if they do not meet them within four weeks, they will stop their walks and remain forever sterile, and the family will inevitably die. The queen, which will hatch in the fall, for example in September, is still fertilized, because although at that time the drones have already been expelled, there is still a hive without queens in your own or a neighboring apiary, in which they linger, and it happens that good families are left until winter one drone at a time. Therefore, a late-bred queen can find a male and become fertilized, if only good weather permits. The queen copulates with the drone only once in her life and as soon as she is fertilized, she remains fertile forever. During the mating flight or flights, the queen mates with 9-10 drones. A fertilized uterus can have its wings cut off, and this will not harm it in any way, and it remains fertile, because there is no need for it to fly out.

The uterus is fertilized through the copulation of the reproductive parts and the influx of drone semen into the uterus. To receive this seed, she has a special organ, which I will call the seminal receptacle. If you carefully tear apart the last two rings of the abdomen of the uterus, then at the very end you will find a round, chalk-white vesicle the size of a millet grain; this is the spermatheca, into which the drone's seed enters during copulation. In a young, still unfertilized uterus, this vesicle is thin and almost transparent and only when filled with seed becomes round and white. Once you find a dead queen, you can tell by the color of the sperm receptacle whether she is young or old.

So, the drone seed does not fertilize the queen's testicles in the ovary. I have already said above that the queen, even without copulation with the drone, can carry eggs, but only drone eggs, but after fertilization she carries both bee and drone eggs. From this it follows that all the testicles in the uterus are initially of only one kind, i.e. male, or drone, and turn into female, or bee, only when they touch the drone seed located in the seminal receptacle of the uterus. This is accomplished as follows: when the uterus releases an egg, it passes right next to the vesicle with the seed. If at this moment the female moistens it with seed, it will become female, or bee, but if she simply lets it pass, then it will not change and will remain male, or drone. The laying of fertilized and unfertilized eggs by the uterus depends on the size of the comb cells and the pressure of their walls on the abdomen of the uterus. But the unfertilized uterus does not have a seed in the spermatic receptacle, and even if she wanted to, she cannot moisten the testicles with it during laying, and therefore all the testicles coming out of her will be only drone ones. It even happens that a queen fertilized by a drone, which carried bee eggs, turns into a drone, i.e. stops laying bee eggs. This occurs in cases where the uterus is very old and the seed has deteriorated, or when it has lost the ability to control the muscles that move the spermatic receptacle, or when the latter has completely deteriorated from a sting, from strong pressure or from great cold. When a family, numb from the cold, is warmed up and saved, we often see that the queen, who was fertile until then, stops laying bee eggs and will carry only drone eggs.

This theory of the transformation of male testicles into female ones, no matter how strange it may seem, you can give full faith, for the most famous modern naturalists have been positively convinced of it.

When the queen flies out to copulate, beekeepers call it a mating flight with the drone. Where there are many apiaries, for example in Podolia, during swarming you can often see masses of drones flying in the air in heaps, now rising and now falling down. The common people call these heaps of drones midday because they appear only at noon. These are drones chasing the queen, who has flown out to lose, and beekeepers should pay attention to this, because maybe someone will be able to see the act of copulation, since heaps of drones sometimes fall to the ground and rise again.

The queen makes her first approximate flights on the 3rd day; nuptial flights occur no earlier than the 6th day, usually on the 7th day of life, and then only when there is only one in the hive and the rest of the queens have moved away or been destroyed. The queen usually flies out of the swarm the next day according to the sediment; from the colony that has hatched - three weeks after the departure of the old queen with the first one, when all the bees left after her have bred. The queen flies out only in clear, completely calm weather, and on cold, cloudy and windy days, she remains in the hive. The queens are more likely and more likely to be fertilized in consistently good weather.

The queen flies out between ten and three o'clock, when the drones usually play the most. She repeats this several times a day, sometimes more than ten. Having flown out of the hive and spent several minutes in the air, she returns, then flies out again, and this continues until she meets and copulates with a drone. During this meeting, it remains in the air for a quarter of an hour and at most half an hour, and as soon as it is fertilized after copulation, it no longer flies out.

When the queen returns to the hive after meeting the drone, she happens to notice that the tip of a thin thread is trailing behind her. These are the genitals of the drone, which after copulation came off and remained in the uterus. If you grab such a queen in front of the entrance and carefully pull out these threads from it, you can see through a microscope that these are exactly the same genitals that jump out from the back of the drone when you press it firmly with your fingers. This serves as proof that the queen copulates with the drone in the air. The uterus that has brought such a sign usually does not fly out anymore and becomes fertile. She usually begins laying eggs 2 days after the last mating. Queens that do not begin laying eggs on the 10-16th day after leaving the queen cell are of poor quality and must be discarded.

The beekeeper will recognize the fertilization of the uterus if he sees eggs in the combs, and eight days later - sealed bee brood.

Not all queens are fertilized at the same time; others copulate on the day of the first flight, another will fly for a week, two, three until it is fertilized. This will depend both on favorable weather and on whether there are drones in the apiary.

Usually the uterus is fertilized within eight days, and the eggs laid by it are already noticeable.

You can observe the flight of the young queen to the drone with convenience if you put a small third one in a box with a capacity of 2.5 liters, with a glass, and place it outside near the window so that through the glass you can see every bee flying out and arriving. The beekeeper does not need such a projectile, because he will see enough of this flight in the apiary with second-rate, third-rate and mature families - if only he wants to pay attention to it.

The flight of the queen to the drone threatens the beekeeper with great disaster, because through this more than one family will become dehydrated, since more than one queen that has flown to the drone will die and will not return to the hive. When the queen takes flight, and there is no young offspring in the hive from which the bees could hatch another queen, then the family must become deuterated and die if the beekeeper does not give it another queen. Of course, when flying out for the first time, the queen carefully examines the position of the hive in order to find a way back, but it often happens that in the bustle and crush of the bees during their play at noon, she gets lost and, instead of getting into her hive, ends up in the neighboring one. , especially if this one plays strongly, where other people's bees will grab it and kill it immediately. This happens mostly in apiaries where the hives often stand next to each other, like herrings in a barrel, and even more so when they are similar in appearance. Therefore, at least for the last reason, the hives should be placed as far as possible from one another, because the more they are scattered, the fewer queenless families the beekeepers will have. It doesn’t hurt to give similar hives from which young queens fly out some obvious signs: various tires, straw dressings, pegs driven in near the entrances, etc., so that the queen can orient herself. Color signs are not as useful as shape signs. Since the emerging queen already knows the position of her hive, it should not be rearranged, moved or transferred to another apiary, nor should it be subjected to visible changes until the queen is fertilized and stops flying, otherwise she will get confused and die. The beekeeper should also beware of walking unnecessarily between the hives while the bees are playing, because during the play of the bees, young queens also fly out to meet the drones.

Despite, however, all the precautions, more than one queen will die during the flight, because birds can grab her, she herself can fall into the water, but most of all the queens die during the swarm: if the young queen flies out to the drone, and at that moment a swarm will come out and make noise in the apiary, the queen forgets about her hive, interferes with the swarm, where they usually kill her, and her own bees will be left without a queen.

One of the favorite accessories for every woman is, of course, a bag. A handbag is an integral attribute of almost every representative of the fair sex, because this accessory performs not only a decorative, but also a very important practical function, serving as a spacious storage for a thousand and one little things. There are never too many handbags, so every woman will always have at least a couple of them in stock - and often the number of bags of all types and sizes even reaches several dozen. Today we invite lovely ladies to watch a short tutorial that tells you how to add another wonderful handbag to your wardrobe for the spring-summer season.

DIY bags master class

The authors of the lesson called “Bright spring bag in 15 minutes” talk about how to make a stylish handbag with your own hands with minimal time and money. Even a novice needlewoman can cope with this task, so this video lesson will be of interest to all representatives of the fair sex, regardless of the level of their artistic abilities and design skills. For work, you will need an old handbag, which, due to long-term use, has lost its original appearance, as well as unnecessary leather boots (for example, if they have become small or simply gone out of fashion). Don't rush to throw away these outdated things - you can give them a new life! The authors of this lesson show how you can completely transform an old bag with the help of simple decor, made with your own hands from everything that was at hand. One of the “highlights” of the handbag model shown in this master class is, of course, the stylish leather fringe, which has been considered one of the leading fashion trends for several seasons now. As a result of the work of the craftswomen, the result was an extremely fashionable and original ladies' bag in ethno-style, which has a universal purpose: it can be taken for a walk, to work, and while shopping.

Sew a bag with your own hands from fabric

We hope that this master class will help our viewers discover new resources for handmade crafts, have a good time doing needlework and, as a result, get something new in their wardrobe - a stylish handbag for spring

Every resident of a big city knows firsthand what a lack of natural environment and fresh air means. The same applies to many food products: if rural residents have most of the vitamins in fresh vegetables and fruits at hand, then city dwellers have a more difficult time in this matter - they have to buy everything, risking running into nitrates and other not very useful additives. Therefore, of course, everything that can be grown independently is better - it is cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and healthier. The short video presented on our website is dedicated to this issue.

DIY vegetable garden on the windowsill

Video lesson entitled “How to make a vegetable garden at home? Growing greens and seedlings." This video will be interesting to a very wide range of viewers, since the issues of growing healthy seedlings at home are of equal interest to the inhabitants of both large cities and small villages. The invited expert in this video talks about how, with minimal financial investment, you can create a special structure at home in which you can successfully grow both high-quality seedlings for planting in the country and any greens for everyday consumption. What are the advantages of the method of growing seedlings proposed in this video lesson? Firstly, this method is extremely economical, both from the financial side (does not require large monetary outlays) and from the point of view of rational expenditure of time and effort. Setting up such a unique indoor “bed” will not take much time, caring for it is also not at all difficult, and will not interfere with other daily activities. In addition, the advantage of the above method, such as the compact design, which is used for growing greenery and seedlings, is especially important for residents of city apartments. The mentioned design has small dimensions, is easy to fold and carry, so it will not be at all difficult to choose a suitable corner for it even in a small apartment or small house.

What can you grow on a windowsill in winter?

We are confident that all our viewers who are interested in gardening and want to provide their family with fresh, environmentally friendly greens will definitely learn a lot of useful things from this video.

All kinds of fraud and deception of gullible citizens have flourished at all times, and usually scammers show enviable ingenuity, constantly coming up with more and more new ways to illegally seize other people's property. In full accordance with the latest trends in the development of society in the twenty-first century, virtual and mobile fraud is now particularly flourishing. It is the latter that is discussed in this video lesson, which we recommend that everyone watch without exception - regardless of gender and age.

How to avoid becoming a victim of SMS scammers

A short video called “How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers” is worth watching for all visitors to our website, because none of us are immune from the possibility of sooner or later becoming a victim of SMS fraud. In addition, the information heard in this video must be conveyed to your friends and loved ones, especially to children and elderly family members, since they are the ones who most often fall for the bait of mobile scammers, sometimes transferring very large sums of money to them. In this video lesson, invited experts briefly, but very informatively and clearly talk about the most common methods of SMS fraud, and how to behave in such situations so as not to lose your savings. In addition, our viewers will probably be interested in general recommendations on how to minimize the risk of falling into one of the fraudulent schemes. An extremely important nuance that experts emphasize is maintaining composure and a sober view of things. Very often, scammers use the so-called “shock effect” - they try to stun the victim with unexpected information and demand immediate action (for example, urgently transfer money) so that the person does not have time to come to his senses and understand the situation. Therefore, in no case should you do hasty actions - it is better to think ten times before doing what your mobile interlocutor requires of you.

How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers on the Internet

We hope that this video lesson will help reduce crime rates and help our viewers successfully resist SMS scammers in any circumstances.

One of the most important events in the life of every young girl is, of course, the school prom. This event marks the end of an entire school era and is a kind of “bridge” to adulthood. In addition, this is one of the few holidays when you can give free rein to your imagination in choosing an outfit and turn, at least for one evening, into a real princess for your family and classmates. And, of course, what prom is complete without a prom dress? Our lesson is dedicated to him.

How to choose a dress for prom 2017

Thanks to this video lesson “How to choose a prom dress,” future graduates, as well as their mothers, grandmothers and girlfriends, will be able to familiarize themselves with the recommendations of leading stylists regarding exactly what factors need to be taken into account when choosing a prom dress and what rules should be followed. It's no secret that many young ladies begin to think about choosing an outfit for prom long before the event itself - sometimes even a year in advance. There is no single point of view on what a dress for a prom should be, because all girls are different, each with their own style, character and features of appearance. Therefore, it is extremely important not just to blindly follow fashion trends, but to try to ensure that the graduation dress is in harmony with the graduate’s personality, reflects her individuality and emphasizes her external advantages. Many girls prefer to follow traditional rules in choosing a dress - they choose pastel colors, light fabrics, feminine silhouettes. Of course, this is already a classic, so such outfits will always be appropriate for a prom. However, if a girl wants to show off her originality, then it is quite possible to get creative - choose more unusual colors and styles. As a rule, black is considered an undesirable color - it may be too heavy and gloomy for a young girl during the prom.

How to choose a dress according to your figure

We hope that this video lesson will help each of our viewers make the right choice in favor of the most beautiful and stylish prom outfit that will allow the girl to feel like a true lady.

How to remove belly fat for a girl

It's no secret that one of the most problematic areas for most women is the tummy and sides, because that's where all those "goodies" with which we actively pamper ourselves begin to be deposited first. However, the situation is not critical, and you shouldn’t completely give up your favorite foods - just eat them in moderation and don’t neglect physical activity. The authors of this video dwell in detail on the last question, telling and showing which physical exercises will be most effective for getting rid of fat folds on the stomach and sides. It turns out that you don’t have to exhaust yourself with hours of training in the gym - such exercises can be successfully performed even at home, and it doesn’t take that much time. All these exercises can be done, for example, while watching a television series - and thus, you can combine business with pleasure. The authors of the lesson offer five of the most effective exercises that will help you quickly and reliably make your waist thinner and your figure as a whole slimmer. Of course, to achieve a good result, you must adhere to several rules when performing such exercises: firstly, you need to do each exercise correctly, strictly following all the trainer’s recommendations; secondly, you should exercise regularly, preferably daily, or at least every other day. With constant training, after a short period of time (1-2 weeks), the first improvements will be noticeable and your waist size will begin to decrease.

How to remove belly fat at home

This video lesson will be useful and interesting to almost every woman who wants to have a good figure with minimal effort, time and money.

It’s no secret that human health is the most important thing, so taking care of your own health and your body should start from a very early age. As they say, many diseases are much easier to prevent in time than to treat later, when the disease has already begun to develop intensively.

High-quality medical services are in demand everywhere and always: both a thousand years ago and today. It is well known that the profession of an aesculapian does not tolerate unprofessionalism and amateurism, therefore you should seek medical help only from highly qualified specialists. Otherwise, poor-quality medical care may not only fail to bring the desired improvement, but, on the contrary, may further aggravate the situation and harm health.

Today, the services of large general medical centers, so-called family medical centers (or clinics), which will provide high-quality medical services to all family members: both adults and children, are in great demand.

Among the many advantages of such medical centers, I would especially like to highlight the following:

• Extremely high quality of medical services offered. The entire staff of a large center - from the head physician to the nurse - is highly qualified, has rich practical experience and an impeccable reputation, so specialists of this kind of medical institutions successfully cope with even the most complex tasks;
• Versatility. Clients of the above-mentioned private family-type clinics can safely come here with diseases of a wide variety of profiles - from therapeutic to gynecological. At the same time, an integrated approach to each patient is provided, his previous complaints and requests are taken into account.
• Comfort. One of the main disadvantages of public hospitals - the lack of necessary amenities for comfortable treatment - has been completely eliminated in private medical institutions. Both outpatients and inpatients can stay in pleasant conditions and enjoy all the necessary amenities.
• Availability of the most modern medical equipment;
• Reasonable pricing policy, fixed cost of services and the absence of any extortions, additional payments and demands for “thank you” in envelopes, which patients of so-called “free” clinics constantly face.

All of the above advantages are fully possessed by the well-known German-Ukrainian medical center Aurora, which offers everyone first-class medical services, consultations and assistance from highly qualified world-class specialists.

Every representative of the fair sex strives to be beautiful and attractive, while following the latest trends in the world of fashion and beauty. It turns out that not only clothes or a handbag can be fashionable - but also eyebrows! Over the past years, well-groomed natural eyebrows of sufficient thickness and width have remained a trend all over the world. Such eyebrows make the look more expressive, and the whole face more vibrant and memorable. However, what to do if nature has deprived you of thick eyebrows? Don’t be upset, there is a way out - and you can learn about it in this video lesson “How to grow thick eyebrows.”

How to quickly grow eyebrows

This short video is dedicated to such an interesting issue for any woman as eyebrow care, in particular - how to become the owner of sable eyebrows without extensions, in a natural way. This is quite possible if you use certain traditional medicine products to care for your eyebrows, namely bodyagu. Many people have already heard about its beneficial properties in cosmetology. Now it can be successfully used as an effective means for improving the growth and appearance of eyebrows. Qualified experts will tell you in this video how exactly to use bodyagu for the above purpose, how often such procedures need to be carried out and what precautions to take. A very important nuance is the availability of this method of eyebrow care. Bodyaga is a completely inexpensive, publicly available drug that can be purchased at any pharmacy. Therefore, every representative of the fair sex gets a wonderful opportunity to become even more beautiful at minimal financial costs. By carefully following the beauty tips and recommendations voiced in this video, every woman can see positive changes in the condition of her eyebrows in a short period of time - they will become thicker, healthier, and it will be possible to give them a new shape in accordance with the latest world trends in the issue of eyebrow styling.

How to quickly grow eyebrows at home

We hope that this video lesson will be useful for our viewers and will help to replenish the arsenal of beauty products with another very effective one.

The violin is a wonderful musical instrument that has won millions of hearts thanks to its lyrical sound. However, violinists (both beginners and professionals) are well aware that the violin not only has a delicate and fragile sound. It is also a rather intricate instrument in itself, which requires a special approach and care.

First of all, it is worth protecting the violin from direct sunlight to avoid drying out. Under no circumstances should this musical instrument be left under the scorching sun. The same applies to severe frosts: the violin generally does not like significant temperature changes, so you need to try to maintain a favorable temperature regime in the place where the instrument is stored. Remember that you should not leave the violin near open heat sources: fireplaces, air heaters, stoves, and so on.

Second, no less important advice: the violinist must constantly monitor the level of humidity in the environment where the violin is stored. This musical instrument does not like either excessive humidity, since it causes the wood to become damp and possibly even mold, or too dry air, because in the latter case, cracks and other damage may appear on the wood - and the instrument will become completely unsuitable for use. Experts recommend maintaining an optimal indoor humidity level of 45-60 percent.

An extremely important responsibility of the violinist is also the regular cleaning of the instrument, which should preferably be cleaned and wiped after each use. Do not neglect this responsibility in order to avoid the appearance of dirt, abrasions and other unpleasant signs of use on the body of the violin. To avoid this, we suggest using online stores, for example,

However, even if you fully comply with all the basic recommendations for caring for a violin, its owner is not insured against damage to the instrument. Both as a result of natural wear and tear (if the violin was used for a sufficiently long period of time), and as a result of some unforeseen accidents (blows, falls, other mechanical damage).

If such troubles occur, you should not hesitate, but contact a qualified violin maker who can offer an extensive range of instrument repair services - from replacing strings to restoring the varnish.

K.V. Bogomolov, A.V. Borodachev,

OKB "Apisfera-M", State Scientific Research Institute of Beekeeping of the Russian Agricultural Academy,

Rybnoye, Ryazan region, Russia

At the present stage, one of the main difficulties in breeding queens and selecting bees is control over mating, since queen bees mate with drones in the air uncontrollably within a radius of several kilometers from the apiary. As a result, along with the inability to carry out targeted selection on the paternal side of the pedigree, significant losses of queens during flights are often observed. In regions with unstable spring weather and prolonged returning cold, this problem becomes especially acute. Creating full-fledged layering to fly around the queens, especially in spring, is labor-intensive and costly. Existing methods of controlling mating, including the isolation of queens and drones in space and time, including island isolation, are very expensive and do not provide a 100% guarantee of the purity of mating. The technology for obtaining instrumentally inseminated queen bees (IPM) allows us to eliminate a number of the above problems. In general, the use of instrumental insemination in beekeeping practice allows one to obtain the following number of significant advantages:

There is no need to create full-fledged layering to fly around the queens - at the insemination stage, it is enough to use micronuclei, various entomological cages (Yashchinsky cells), the formation of which takes 8-10 times less bees. Various technologies for keeping queens in cages in foster families (both before and after insemination) are also successfully used.

Insemination is carried out regardless of the weather at the optimal time.

Loss of queens during flights is excluded.

A complete guarantee of the reproduction of queens with a certain heredity is provided, since the origin of the offspring is known both by mothers and fathers, i.e. It is possible to carry out not only selection, but also targeted selection to obtain offspring with desirable characteristics. Only in this case does it become possible to breed purebred bees.

● It is possible to obtain hybrid bees of the 1st generation, characterized by increased productive qualities. (Currently, this direction has become quite widespread in European countries).

● The use of instrumental insemination allows you to reduce to zero the likelihood of unsystematic cross breeding of bees in apiaries, as well as reduce the level of cross breeding in all apiaries where it is used.

● It is possible to control the quality of drones and the amount of sperm introduced into the genital tract of the uterus, which is especially important when varroatosis is widespread (mites, as is known, primarily infect drone brood, as a result of which drones are often hatched defective).

As can be seen from the above, the introduction of instrumental insemination into beekeeping practice is beneficial in all respects, regardless of the apiary profile. Both in the production of breeding products and in the production of beekeeping products, this method increases the economic efficiency of the apiary.

Despite a number of obvious advantages, at present instrumental insemination in beekeeping in the CIS countries is not widespread enough, which in itself cannot but disappoint. Using the example of Russia, we can say that one of the leading reasons for the weak spread of this direction is the lack of equipment necessary for its implementation. Moreover, not all IOPM devices on the market today meet modern requirements.

Nevertheless, constant contacts of domestic specialists from the Apisfera-M Design Bureau with leading Polish and German specialists in the field of IOPM made it possible to identify the most technically advanced devices and take the necessary set of measures to organize their regular deliveries to Russia.

As the most promising and modern equipment for IOPM, specialists from OKB "Apisfera-M" consider J. Grabski & T. Glass™ equipment, which was developed by leading German and Polish specialists from 2001 to 2005 under the leadership of E. Grabsky - head of the experimental production laboratory Kolbas-kowo (Poland).

The main advantages of this device include the following:

1. Fluoroplastic bushings, used in all elements responsible for moving the working parts of the apparatus, dampen any sudden movements and vibrations of the inseminator’s hands, which significantly reduces injuries to the queens.

2. Each of the four racks of the device performs an independent function, in contrast to previous designs of devices, where the functions of the racks were combined. The central posts (with the ability to adjust the distance between them) are used to secure the ball joints, the right main post is used to secure the syringe unit. The left stand serves to secure a special support for the operator’s hand.

3. The horizontal micromanipulator handle allows you to carry out the finest micromovements of the syringe unit using your left hand, which allows you to withdraw the vaginal valve of the inseminated queen bee directly with the end of the capillary needle (without a probe). This also makes it possible to significantly reduce uterine injuries.

4. The uterine holder block is a stop-fixer with a clamping screw. This design allows for quick adjustment of the position of the queen holder cylinder in height. The possibility of quickly removing and installing the queen holder cylinder has also been implemented, which is preferably done before the start of sperm collection from drones in order to prevent contamination of this cylinder with their hemolymph and feces. However, at the stage of installing the capsule with the uterus, there is no need to remove the uterine holder cylinder from the device, which simplifies the work.

5. The channel for supplying CO2 gas in the cylinder of the mother holder opens into the horizontal gas outlet channels of the gas distribution tip (3 channels at an angle of 120 degrees). As a result, CO2 gas is distributed more evenly throughout the capsule and does not hit the head of the uterus, as was the case in devices of previous designs, where the gas channel was through. The used gasket-seal (between the cylinder of the mother holder and the gas distribution tip) prevents the leakage of excess gas from under the capsule, which allows you to save gas and administer it under less pressure.

6. In the design of the syringe block, a rubber ring was used for the first time - an attachment to the flywheel of the feed mechanism. The use of this ring without applying a corrugated surface (knurling) prevents the inseminator’s hands from slipping when working with the flywheel. The corrugated surface inevitably leads to the accumulation of dirt particles, which can serve as a source of infection.

7. The syringe in the block is fixed at a slight angle relative to the direction of movement of the feeding cylinder, which greatly facilitates the removal of the vaginal valve of the inseminated queen bee with a capillary needle.

8. The syringe in this device is piston with direct screw feed. This design of the syringe allows the use of capillary needles of unlimited length, as a result of which it becomes possible to pre-collect a significant amount of sperm and inseminate up to 8 queens without interrupting the insemination process for sperm selection. An optimally selected thread pitch and precision manufacturing of the syringe allow the suction/supply of sperm to be carried out extremely smoothly and accurately, and the production of the feed screw coupling from durable metal that does not require lubrication prevents the formation of backlashes during operation.

9. The standard equipment includes an operating machine (actually, an apparatus for instrumental insemination), a stereoscopic microscope with continuously adjustable zoom (ZOOM) and a built-in ring shadowless LED illuminator. This microscope was developed directly at the Apisfera-M Design Bureau, taking into account all the technological features of instrumental insemination of queen bees. For its manufacture, the most modern optical elements with multilayer antireflective coating are used. The working distance of this microscope allows you to place an operating machine in its field of view with the necessary margin of distance for making adjustments. It should be noted that currently only the equipment described above (of those regularly supplied to the CIS countries) is equipped with microscopes with continuously adjustable magnification.

In instrumental insemination of queen bees, special emphasis should be placed on the selection of sperm from drones, which is the initial stage of this process. When collecting sperm from drones, the inseminator manually stimulates ejaculation (the process of releasing sperm) from the drone, as a result of which the abdomen is often damaged and its excrement and hemolymph can be released into the environment at this moment. Thus, conditions are created for equipment contamination. It should be noted that it is this kind of pollution that is the main source of infections that are dangerous for inseminated queen bees. At the same time, the opening of the stinging chamber and the introduction of pre-selected sperm into the genital tract of the uterus (insemination itself) can almost always be considered a conditionally “clean” process. Based on the above, it is obvious that it is advisable to collect sperm from drones outside the main equipment. In order to implement this task, a special device for sperm collection was developed, which is a syringe clamp with the ability to adjust its angle, located on a table (platform), which is also a support for the stand of a stereoscopic microscope. The microscope and syringe included with this device are identical to those used in the main equipment. The microscope is equipped with a ring-shaped shadowless LED illuminator with continuously adjustable magnification.

In addition to preventing contamination of the main equipment, the use of this device provides the following advantages:

● Additional convenience is created for the inseminator, since only the capillary needle of the insemination syringe is located in the field of view of the microscope - the inseminator can comfortably place his hand with the drone being held under it and, leaning on the device table, hold the drone, in contrast to sperm selection on the main equipment, when the drone is supplied carried out from the side.

● It becomes possible to include an assistant in the work, which significantly increases labor productivity (with this organization of work, the assistant is engaged in the selection of drone sperm, and the inseminator carries out the direct insemination procedure - opening the stinging chamber of the uterus and introducing sperm into its genital tract).

More than two years ago, our design bureau acted as an investor in organizing the production of these devices under the direct control of the main developer, Jerzy Grabski. Certain elements are manufactured in Germany (including hooks and capsules). Today we are ready to supply this equipment to all countries of the world. Upon request, the equipment can be equipped with a reducer for CO2 gas and an ultrasonic vibrator for cleaning all elements of the device.

Deliveries of J. Grabski & T.Glass™ equipment to Russia began in 2012. To date, this equipment has been supplied to the following regions: Vladimir, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Perm, Rostov, Ryazan regions; Krasnoyarsk region; Republic of Tatarstan. Deliveries were made to Kazakhstan and Ukraine. In many of the above regions, beekeepers and breeding producers successfully use this equipment.

The OKB pays considerable attention to training beekeeping specialists in the method of instrumental insemination of queen bees with the direct participation of leading scientists of the State Scientific Research Institute of Beekeeping of the Russian Agricultural Academy and leading foreign specialists. Thus, in the summer periods of 2011, 2012 and 2013, at the experimental production apiaries "Gorokhovetskaya", Krasnopolyansk experimental beekeeping station, Perm State Pedagogical University, Kineshma summer branch of the RPO "Ivanovo Regional Society of Beekeepers" 6 events were held aimed at training beekeeping specialists this method. The events are called “Modern directions of scientific and technological progress in the field of selection of honey bees using instrumental insemination.” Training is conducted in the form of seminars, providing both theoretical (lecture) and practical programs.

ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION OF QUEENS The first attempts at manual artificial insemination of queens were made by Mac Lean (1887). The development of modern instrumental technology for artificial insemination was first started by Vatsan (1927), and was subsequently improved by Nolan (1937), Mackenzie and Roberts (1948), etc. Equipment for artificial insemination of queen bees consists of: 1) installation for anesthesia of the uterus with carbon dioxide; 2) devices for holding and securing the uterus in the appropriate position on the base; 3) three working instruments with mechanical adjustment of movement (dorsal and abdominal hook and graduated syringe); 4) a binacular magnifying glass for working under magnification of 6-20 times. Changes have been introduced to the usual technique of instrumental insemination of queen bees. In the Mackenzie-Roberts apparatus, the syringe holder was attached not directly to a vertical rod, but to a thin, obliquely inclined rod, allowing lateral sliding and more precise adjustment. In addition, the glass capillary of the syringe was bent at the upper end and its two parts were connected to each other by a flexible plastic tube. The glass tip of the syringe is made of capillaries with an outer diameter of 1.6 mm and an inner diameter of 0.9 mm. The capillaries are then drawn out by heating over a small gas flame, reducing their internal diameter to 0.18 mm. During insemination, the tip of the syringe is directly inserted into the vagina through a rotational movement. Experiments were conducted on storing drone sperm, which showed that canned sperm can be successfully used for inseminating queens. Sperm was preserved with streptomycin sulfate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or a mixture thereof and stored in sealed glass ampoules at temperatures of 24 and 13-15 C. For artificial insemination of queens, sperm was taken 1 3, 1 7, 2 1 and 3 5 weeks after storage. The best ability for insemination after 35 weeks was preserved in sperm stored in streptomycin sulfate at a temperature of 13-15 °C. From 6 queens artificially inseminated with this sperm, 35 daughter queens were bred. The life expectancy of artificially inseminated queens in bee colonies is not inferior to naturally mated ones. Positive results were obtained when storing drone sperm by deep freezing in liquid nitrogen (-19 6 ° C) and successfully transporting it to various countries. Using diluents (bicarbonate-phosphate medium for bull sperm and medium for ram sperm according to S. P. Belyakov), it is possible to inseminate several infertile queens with the sperm of one drone, when it is necessary to achieve particularly close inbreeding. Artificial insemination will be widely used in the linear breeding of bees. Artificial insemination of queens does not require special skill, but it must be carried out quickly, without hesitation and without injuring the uterus. It is more convenient to perform this operation together. It is recommended to euthanize the uterus with CO2. Such anesthesia has almost no effect on the subsequent behavior of the uterus; after the use of other anesthetics, the uterus begins to lay eggs only 30-50 days after insemination. The amount of sperm introduced with each injection should not be too large. The best results are achieved with two inseminations with an interval of 24 hours, using 4 mm3 of sperm in each of them. When collecting sperm from drones, you should ensure that mucus that differs in color from the sperm does not get into the syringe. The queens are inseminated only after they reach sexual maturity, which occurs at different times, depending on the season of the year and weather conditions. Drones are taken at the age of 12-20 days after they emerge from the pupae. If the rules are strictly followed, artificial insemination of queens results in almost 100% success. Homogeneous mixing of seed from a large number of drones in the spermatheca of the queen is an effective means of increasing the population of bees during their breeding and reduces inbreeding. According to a number of researchers, such mixing does not occur during instrumental insemination. By washing and centrifuging, homogeneous mixing of the seed was achieved. It has been proven that thanks to this treatment, the seed is evenly distributed in the spermatheca of the uterus. The speed of sperm movement in Apis mellifera is very slow (0.017 mm/min), so mixing of drone sperm is difficult. According to Martinho (1979), for 20 days the eggs receive only sperm from one or two drones. It is believed that the sperm of each drone are formed into aggregates inside the spermatheca. The formation of seed agglomerates means that even when a queen mates with 17 drones, the resulting worker bees are often daughters of only one or two drones. The Polish scientist Wojke (1982) conducted an interesting experiment. 160 queens were instrumentally inseminated with 3 mm3 of semen. Queens were placed in honeycomb cores containing different numbers of worker bees - from 0 to 1000 (8 groups). The cores were located outside the room. 2 days after insemination, 5 out of 20 queens without bees died. The rest contained some sperm in the oviducts. In almost all queens surrounded by 100 or more worker bees, the absence of sperm in the oviducts was noted. The smallest number of spermatozoa (1.4 and 1.2 million) entered the spermatheca of queens kept in honeycomb cores without bees. The presence of 50 worker bees doubled the number of spermatozoa entering the spermatheca (2.6 and 2.7 million). A further increase in the number of worker bees to 1000 did not increase or only slightly increased the number of sperm in the spermatheca. h A gradual increase in the bee population led to an increase in the temperature in the club from 18 to 31.6 °C. Thus, it was concluded that to ensure a normal number of sperm in the spermatheca of instrumentally inseminated queens kept in outdoor nucs, the retinue must contain at least 350 worker bees. A noticeable seasonal effect on the success of insemination was found: it decreased at later dates of insemination. The period between insemination and egg laying lengthened by the end of the season (from 5.7 days in April to 14.3 days in September). Instrumentally inseminated queens begin laying eggs 3-5 days later than naturally mated ones. The best results were achieved when inseminating queens in the spring - on the 10-12th day, and in June and July - on the 5th -6th day after hatching. The death of artificially inseminated queens can be caused by trauma to the uterus during the manipulation process, the introduction of too much sperm, attack by worker bees, etc. There is also an opinion that one of the reasons for the death of queen bees during instrumental insemination is their self-poisoning through the entry of feces microflora into the sperm introduced into oviducts. For prevention purposes, it is recommended to increase the number of bees accompanying the queens in cages (this will facilitate more thorough care and cleaning of the queens) or add an antibiotic to the sperm. The mortality rate of artificially inseminated queens largely depends on their age. Thus, when inseminating queens aged 1 to 4 days, the highest mortality rate was observed (40 -85.9%), and the number of sperm in the spermatheca was small (2.658 million on average in 1 spermatheca). The mortality rate of old queens (21 -47 days) was low (0 - 26.7%), but the number of sperm in the spermatheca was also small (2.356 million). These indicators were most optimal in queens 4-15 days of age: mortality is below 25%, the number of sperm is about 4 million. Based on the results obtained, artificial insemination is recommended for queens 5-14 days of age. Recently, artificial insemination of queens has been increasingly used in beekeeping practice. This is due to a number of reasons: Insemination of the queen not by one, but by several (7-10) drones makes it difficult to control the mating of producers and prevents the selection necessary for breeding work. The use of breeding points is not effective enough, because in conditions of high bee density it is often difficult to select zones free from the arrival of alien drones, with an isolation radius of at least 10 km. Using artificial insemination, it is possible to obtain fertile queens regardless of weather conditions. It is not particularly difficult to breed drones and barren queens in the spring, however, due to the low temperature, natural mating during this period is impossible. With the help of artificial insemination, it is possible to obtain fertile queens in the early stages, in particular, by the beginning of the formation of spring layering. With artificial insemination, there is no need for cores, and the loss of queens from damage and diseases arising during the insemination process is insignificant and does not exceed 10%. It has been noted that varroatosis significantly affects the quality of the resulting queens. In families, their self-replacement is often observed. This is due to the low quality of drones due to significant damage to them by mites. Artificial insemination of queens provides reliable control over both the quality of the drones themselves and the quantity of injected sperm. At the apiary of the Institute of Beekeeping in the Ryazan Region, strong families that have entered a swarm state are used as breeding colonies for breeding queens. Queen cells are established on 12-hour grafted larvae. On the 10th day after grafting, the queen cells are enclosed in cages and placed in nursery families between frames with brood of different ages. The cages are supplied with food and each cage is first given 8-10 bees from the same family. After leaving the queen cells, barren queens are rejected. A foster family contains up to 50 queens for the entire period during which they are inseminated. This method, in comparison with the common method of keeping in nucs, provides easy access to the queens, eliminates losses during flights, allows maintaining an optimal regime regardless of the external temperature, and does not require the cost of bees, honeycombs, or feed. In the late spring, in order to obtain a large number of drones in a short time, it is advisable to keep the queens on a drone comb in an isolator for 2-3 days. Then the honeycomb with eggs is removed from the insulator and left in the nest. Two days before the drones emerge, this honeycomb is again placed in an isolator and every two days the emerging drones are marked with colored paints. In another method, such a comb is given to a special family for rearing, and all the drones and mature drone brood present there are destroyed. A drone trap is placed on the entrance of the hive to prevent the entry of drones of unknown origin. The nest of the paternal families must contain at least 10 kg of honey and two full frames of beebread. If there is a lack of pollen, bee colonies will not raise the required number of drones; Moreover, males who have experienced pollen starvation during the first 6-7 days of life do not produce the amount of sperm that is necessary for complete insemination of the uterus. Bees can expel drones in the middle of summer when honey flow is temporarily interrupted. Therefore, during these periods, paternal families are fed with a honey mixture. If this process has begun, then a layer with a queen is formed from the family: only in this case can the drones be preserved. Drones raised in colonies affected by varroa are smaller and produce small amounts of often nonviable sperm. Artificial insemination is carried out in the laboratory at a temperature not lower than 25 °C. In the laboratory it is necessary to have a thermostat, a machine for artificial insemination of queens, an MBS-1 microscope, a C02 cylinder, a reducer, a two-neck Tishchenko jar, cages, an oxygen cushion, rubber connecting hoses, tweezers, weighing bottles, saline solution, cotton wool, gauze, distilled water; for disinfection - bactericidal irradiator, 96-degree alcohol, nitro paints of different colors, foil tags, shellac, special pins with handles. Before starting work, the room is disinfected with a bactericidal irradiator for 10 minutes. Zatolokin O. A. Beekeeping. Practical guide. - D.: Stalker Publishing House, 2003. - 352 p.

The technological process of artificial insemination of the uterus involves the implementation of a whole complex of works, which can be divided into three groups: preparatory, direct insemination and preservation of breeding material after the insemination procedure.

To date, a number of shortcomings have been discovered in the classical technology for performing this work (O. Mackenzan and W. Robert, 1948).

A.V. Borodacheva and co-authors (1987) noted that the productivity of an experienced operator using this technology is no more than 30 queens per day, a beginner - no more than 20 queens; the business yield of queens is about 90% and less than 70%, respectively.

To obtain a fertile uterus, the insemination procedure must be repeated twice or three times, since only repeated injection of sperm ensures the most effective filling of the sperm receptacle. However, increasing the frequency of insemination increases the likelihood of failure and injury to the uterus. The procedure is most successful in large individuals (at least 190 mg). After insemination, queens require stimulation of the onset of their reproductive activity by additional treatment with carbon dioxide. Bees are more hostile to queens that have been artificially inseminated than to those that have mated naturally with drones. Perhaps these are the factors that determine the slow introduction of this technology into beekeeping practice.

In addition, from the point of view of mating biology, the technology is also flawed. The entire insemination procedure from start to finish takes place on a uterus euthanized with carbon dioxide, and a capillary with sperm is inserted into the unpaired oviduct after the vaginal valve is retracted. Under natural conditions, the drone inserts the endophallus into the sting chamber of the uterus. In this case, the sperm enters the area where the vaginal opening is located, and only then the male reproductive cells migrate to the oviducts. During instrumental insemination, the operator, penetrating the unpaired oviduct, retracts the vaginal valve - an organ that plays an important role in the migration of sperm in the genital tract of the uterus. Repeated manipulations with it create a high probability of damage to both the valve itself and the tissues adjacent to it. Bees with great accuracy identify queens that have certain defects, which in practice results in problems with their replanting. Certain damages even cause disturbances in their reproductive activity.

In 1997, the Department of Beekeeping of the National Agrarian University. V.A. Nestervodsky (Kiev) proposed a method of artificially introducing sperm into the uterus into the vaginal opening area, taking into account the biological characteristics of natural mating. Its main differences from the classic version are a different sequence of work and a different principle for introducing sperm.

Before collecting sperm from drones, which is done immediately before insemination, a cylindrical nozzle 3 mm long, 1.5 mm in diameter, with a through hole in the central part Ø0.3 mm, made of special synthetic materials, is placed on the tip of the capillary. Its end should not interfere with sperm collection. After disinfecting the capillary and nozzle with a 70% aqueous solution of ethyl alcohol, sperm is collected from 10–15 drones. The uterus is placed in a uterine holder inserted into the appropriate socket of the artificial insemination device and anesthetized with carbon dioxide. As soon as she falls asleep, the sting chamber is opened with the ventral and stinal hooks. Using sterile tweezers, the nozzle is lowered onto the tip of the capillary so that its lower part is aligned with the border of the capillary opening or slightly extends beyond it. Then the capillary with a nozzle is inserted into the sting chamber. Using a dissecting needle or probe, mucus (the secretion of the accessory glands of the reproductive system of drones) is taken from several drones and placed between the upper part of the side walls of the nozzle and the walls of the uterine sting chamber. After this, the supply of carbon dioxide is stopped and the stinging and ventral hooks are carefully removed. The sclerites of the abdomen tightly fit the capillary nozzle, and the mucus quickly dries under the influence of air, sealing the exit from the sting chamber. In order for the uterus to wake up faster, clean air is supplied to the uterus holder with a mini-compressor. This must be done because in the uterus, which is in natural conditions, the vaginal valve is open (it is closed during anesthesia). As soon as the uterus wakes up, sperm is injected into it. The administration process should last about 30 minutes. Sperm, once in the lower part of the sting chamber, that is, in the area of ​​the vaginal opening, thanks to the active assistance of the uterus, moves into the oviducts. The empty capillary is carefully removed from the sting chamber. When performing this operation, the nozzle is held with a special fork-shaped hook so that during the process and after the removal of the capillary is completed, it remains in the sting chamber. After this, the uterus is removed from the uterus holder. An artificial trail remains in the sting chamber, which for some time prevents the leakage of sperm and helps to better fill the spermatheca.