The heterosis effect

The heterosis effect

Heterosis, which acts primarily upon vitality and finaly upon honey production. The heterosis effect appears both in the case of crossing the consanguineous lines of one population within the same race, and in crossing different races as well. There are therefore, two different methods to make the heterosis effect useful from the economic standpoint. As with many other animals and cultivated plants, there is with the bees too, a pronounced effect.

1). The setting up of several consanguineous lines of bee colonies from a certain region, and linked to this production of single – and double – cross hybrids, the cross-breeds “ Starline” and “Midnite” in the U.S.A., has been created this way. The production increase obtained, is about 30% against the local bee (Cale )

2) Crossing two different races or different environmental lines belonging to the same race.

Explanations for the results obtained in this way are given in the following table:

Crossing; Increase of honey production

Carnica x Mellifica; 31% against parents better ( selected Carnica Ruttner 1957)
Caucasian x Carnica; Up to 100% as compared to the selected Carnica (Ruttner, unpublished
Caucasica x Mellifica; 15 to 41% in comparison with the off-springs average ( Taranov 1956) 70% as compared to the middle zone Russian bee (Minkov 1960)
Caucasia x Ucraina bee; 61% to 65% as compared to the Ucraine test off-spring (Solodkova and Guba, 1960)
Anatolia bee x Buckfast; 128 -151% as against the overall average of the bee-hive (Bruder Adam 1961)

As it can be seen, this method ensures on the average, greater production increases than any other method. Another advantage is the direct occurrence of the heterosis effect. This cannot always be obtained of course, by crossing bees of geographically different origins, but one has to examine empirically the fitness of the combination for each case. In case of selecting within a population to each generation, only those colonies will be used for reproduction according to their productivity. On the contrary when cross-breeding, the initially selected lines will be maintained separately, by permanently watching the fitness of their combination, and each generation of F 1 hybrids will be reproduced. From this issues the necessity of centralizing the whole selection business, and the steady supply of the colonies with hybrid bee-queens. The choosing of the melioration course depends upon local possibilities and conditions.

see also Roberts W. C., 1962. - Heterosis in the honey bee as shown by morphological characters in inbred and hybrid bees. Ann. Ent. Soc. A. 54, 878-882

SELECTION – A BASIC PROBLEM FOR THE PROGRESS OF THE PRESENT DAY APICULTURE
F. RUTTNER   Apiacta 1, 1966
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