Honey bees production – parameters influencing its productivity

Bc. Teodor Husarčík

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Honey and wax production serve as vital components of the rural economies, particularly in Northern Algeria. This thesis aims to explore and assess several factors influencing honeybee colony development, weather-influenced daily dynamics, and forage sources availability. This study intends to establish efficient procedures for proper colony monitoring and beekeeper interventions through extensive data collection from various bioclimatic regions in Northern Algeria, including questionnaires, hive observations, pollen load analyses, palynological and honey sample analyses. The development of the questionnaire survey was necessary for problem detection and monitoring as beekeeping has become more popular in Africa in recent years and more beekeepers are adopting inappropriate management practices. The questionnaire survey was administered to a homogeneous population of beekeepers (17 beekeepers from 22 sampled locations participated in the survey) and provided invaluable insights into a wide spectrum of management practices. Hive observations provided crucial information on actual colony strength level and were reinforced by the Liebefelder method which was pivotal in assessing colony dynamics during internal hive inspections. Palynological analysis of pollen loads and honey sample analysis, provided in the Bouchegouf district, clarified the diversity of local floral sources and seasonal foraging patterns and detected the origin of local honey. Understanding of the interactions between various beekeeping techniques, colony health, and environmental factors affecting honeybee productivity in Northern Algeria is provided by the integration of these methodologies. The identification of the key parameters influencing colony production revealed that the parameters affect individual factors in different ways.

Keywords

Liebefelder method, Production parameters, Questionnaire, Bees, Seasonal dynamics

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 28. 4. 2024

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 3. 6. 2024
• Supervisor: Ing. Radim Kotrba, Ph.D.
• Reader: Jiří Danihlík, externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / specializace:
Wildlife and Livestock Production, Management and Conservation / Wildlife Management and Conservation