Luận án Nghiên cứu một số đặc điểm sinh học, sinh sản của loài ong apis cerana nuôi tại Thái Nguyên

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO 
ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN 
PHÙNG ĐỨC HOÀN 
NGHIÊN CỨU MỘT SỐ ĐẶC ĐIỂM SINH HỌC, 
SINH SẢN CỦA LOÀI ONG APIS CERANA 
NUÔI TẠI THÁI NGUYÊN 
Chuyên ngành: Chăn nuôi 
Mã số: 62.62.01.05 
TÓM TẮT LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ NÔNG NGHIỆP 
THÁI NGUYÊN - 2015
Công trình được hoàn thành tại: 
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NÔNG LÂM – ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN 
Người hướng dẫn khoa học: 1. PGS.TS. Nguyễn Duy Hoan 
2. TS. Phùng Hữu Chính 
Phản biện 1: ......................................................... 
Phản biện 2: ......................................................... 
Phản biện 3: ......................................................... 
DANH MỤC CÁC CÔNG TRÌNH 
LIÊN QUAN ĐẾN LUẬN ÁN 
1. Phùng Đức Hoàn, Nguyễn Duy Hoan (2012) “Nghiên cứu 
một số đặc điểm sinh học sinh sản của ong chúa loài ong nội 
Apis cerana”, Tạp chí Nông nghiệp & Phát triển Nông thôn, 
số 7 năm 2012, tr. 87 - 89. 
2. Phùng Đức Hoàn, Nguyễn Duy Hoan, Phùng Hữu Chính, 
Nguyễn Chi Mai, Phan Minh Tuấn, Nguyễn Tường Vân (2014), 
“Đa dạng sinh học ong nội Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae) 
tại Thái Nguyên”, Tạp chí Nông nghiệp & Phát triển Nông thôn, 
số 15 năm 2014, tr. 69 - 74. 
3. Phùng Đức Hoàn, Nguyễn Duy Hoan, Phùng Hữu Chính 
(2014) “Một số yếu tố liên quan đến số lượng ống trứng và số 
lượng tinh trùng dự trữ của ong chúa Apis cerana ở Thái 
Nguyên”, Tạp chí Nông nghiệp & Phát triển Nông thôn, số 20 
năm 2014, tr. 74 - 78. 
MINISTRY OF EDUCARION AND TRAINING 
THAINGUYEN UNIVERSITY 
PHUNG DUC HOAN 
STUDY ON SEVERAL BIOLOGICAL 
AND REPRODUCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS 
OF APIS CERANA REARED IN THAI NGUYEN 
Specality: Animal Science 
Code: 62.64.01.05 
SUMMARY OF PhD DISSERTATION 
IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE 
THAI NGUYEN - 2015
The dissertation was completed at 
 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND 
FORESTRY - THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY 
Scientific supervisors: 
1. Assoc Prof. Nguyen Duy Hoan, PhD. 
2. Phung Huu Chinh, PhD. 
Reviewer 1: .......................................................... 
Reviewer 2: .......................................................... 
Reviewer 3: .......................................................... 
LIST OF WORRKS RELATED TO THE DISSERTATION 
1. Phung Duc Hoan, Nguyen Duy Hoan (2012) “Study on several 
biological and reproductive characteristics Journal of agriculture 
&rural developmentc No 7 2012 pages. 87 - 89. 
2. Phung Duc Hoan, Nguyen Duy Hoan, Phung Huu Chinh, 
Nguyen Chi Mai, Phan Minh Tuan, Nguyen Tuong Van (2014), 
“Biodiversity of domestic bees Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: 
Apidae) reared in Thai Nguyen”, Journal of agriculture & rural 
development, No 15 năm 2014, tr. 69 - 74. 
3. Phung Duc Hoan, Nguyen Duy Hoan, Phung Huu Chính 
(2014) “Several factors related to number of oviducts and 
speermatozoa stored in spermatheca of Apis cerana queen in 
Thai Nguyen”, Journal of agriculture & rural development, No 
20 2014 pages. 74 - 78. 
1 
INTRODUCTION 
1. Urgency of the dissertation 
Our country is situated in a a tropical climate region with rich 
and diversified vegetational covers, flowers bloom throughout the 
year. This is a good condition for the development of beekeeping to 
get honey. Therefore, beekeeping has existed for a long time, bees 
kept are mainly domestic bees (Apis cerana). Honey bees provide 
people with valuable products such as pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, 
bee venom... etc... These are original biological products with high 
nutritional value used as tonic for people’s health as well as in. 
medicine and many other industries. Currently, Apis cerana species is 
at risk of its food sources being competied by Apis mellifera species 
imported. Study of the biological and reproductive characteristics of 
Apis cerana bees will serve as a basis for selection, breeding and 
management of bee colonies to improve productivity, quality and 
economic efficiency of beekeeping. Besides this, the study also aims 
to conserve and develop domestic beekeeping, which is necessary to 
do the practical production. Derived from these requirements, we 
study the project: "Study on biological and reproductive 
characteristics of Apis cerana bees kept in Thai Nguyen". 
2. The objective of this dessertation 
The objective of this dessertation is finding a complete and 
systematic information about the biological and reproductive 
characteristics of of Apis cerana bees commonly kept in North 
Vietnam, contributing to the development of domestic and exotic bees 
3. Scientific and practical significance of the dissertiation 
3.1. Scientific significance 
The dissertation will add complete and systematic information 
about the biological and reproductive characteristics of Apis cerana 
bees commonly kept in Northern part of Vietnam. 
3.2. Practical significance 
Study of biological and reproductive characteristics of Apis 
cerana bees will serve as a basis for the selection, breeding and 
management of bee colonies to improve productivity, quality and 
economic efficiency of beekeeping, to supplement and perfect a 
technical procedure of people’s beekeeping. 
2 
4. Contribution of the dissertation: 
The dissertation is a deep and systemic study of biological and 
reproductive characteristics of Apis cerana bees kept in northern part 
of Viet Nam serving as a basis for selective breeding of bees. The 
results of the study published will be used as a reference for 
researchers, teachers in the field of agriculture and biology, It will 
also lay a ground for contributing to improve the procedure of 
domestic beekeeeping techniques in the country. 
5. Structutre of the dissertation: 
The dissertation consists of 106 pages, including: Introduction 
3 pages, Chapter 1: Overview of documents 34 pages, Chapter 2: 
Contents and methods of study14 pages, Chapter 3: Results and 
discussion 53 pages Conclusions and recommendation 2 pages. The 
dissertation has 29 tables, 11 graphs, 6 charts, 20 pictures and 6 
appendices. The dissertation has 169 references, of which 43 
inVietnamese and 126 in foreign languages documents. 
Chapter 1 LITERATURE OVERVIEW 
Literature overview consists of the sections below: 
Section 1 Some knowdlege of honey bees. 
Section 2: Anatomial features and honey comb structure. 
Section 3: Biological and reproductive characteristics of various 
bee levels. 
Section 4: Summary of study results in the country and foreign 
countries on biological, reproductive characteristics of honey bees. 
Section 5: The natural conditions, the situation of agriculture 
and bee keeping in Thai Nguyen. 
Chapter 2. CONTENT AND METHOD OF STUDY 
2.1. Objects, places and time period of study 
* Objects of study 
Domestic Apis cerana bee species 
* Places of study 
The project was carried out in the following places: 
- The bee colonies were kept in: Thai Nguyen city; Dong Hy 
district; Phu Luong and Dai Tu districts - Thai Nguyen province. 
- The measurement and anatomical indicators were carried out at 
the Institute of Life Sciences of University of Thai Nguyen 
3 
agriculture and Forestry, and the Central center for bee research and 
Development - Hanoi. 
* Time period of study: 2009 - 2013. 
2.2. Study contents 
Study was carried out with 6 contents below: 
- Content 1: Identifying domestic Apis cerana bee subspecies 
in Thai Nguyen using molecular genetic methods. 
- Contents 2: Determining anatomical features and 3 types of 
comb of Apis cerana. 
- Content 3: Some biological and reproductive characteristics 
of queen. 
- Content 4: Some biological and reproductive characteristics 
of drone. 
- Content 5: Some biological characteristics of worker bee. 
- Content 6: Lifespan of three bee types. 
2.3 Methods of study 
2.3.1. Methods of monitoring study indicators 
* Content 1: Identifying domestic Apis cerana bee subspecies 
in Thai Nguyen using molecular genetic methods 
Materials: 11 samples of A. cerana bees being kept with their 
products exploited in three districts: Dai Tu, Dong Hy, Phu Luong of 
Thai Nguyen province and the control sample were collected. The 
samples were soaked in absolute alcohol. For each sample, 1-2 worker 
bees were randomly selected and kept at -20
o
C until separation of 
DNA and 20 worker bees were used for morphological analysis. 
Methods: 
* Polymorphism analysis of morphological indicators of 
worker bees: Number and analysis of morphological indicators of 
bees based on method of Ruttner (1988). 
* Polymorphism analysis of COI gene sequences of 
mitochondrial DNA. 
Separation of DNA: From samples of worker bees, alcohol was 
removed by using method of Garnery et al(1993).Total DNA is 
extracted from chest muscles of worker bees using Fermentas DNA 
extraction kit (Germany). Cloned by PCR: The target COI gene with 
length of 1040bp was cloned by PCR kit from Fermentas company 
(Germany) between the total DNA isolated from worker bees and 
4 
primers. DNA sequencing: The PCR product was purified using 
PureLink ™ Quick Gel Extraction & PCR Purification Combo Kit 
(Invitrogen ™) and sent to Macrogen company (Korea)for nucleotide 
sequencing oriented to 2 directions. 
DNA sequence analysis: The analysis is based on the 
polymorphism of the COI gene sequences and compared with the 
control sample. 
* Content 2: Anatomical features and 3 types of comb of Apis cerana 
- The volume and comb size of 3 types of beehive: 
+ Measuring the volume of three types of bee hive: The 
volume of comb was measured by filling the comb of the three types 
of bee with water then a pipette was used to calculate the volume. 30 
queen cells, 10 worker drone combs and 10 drone bee combs from 10 
bee colonies in two study places were measured. 
+ Measurement of comb size:For comb of queen in natural 
colony division after queen larvae was hatched, queen cell was cut 
along to measure the length and width, using a caliper square with an 
accuracy of 0.02 mm to measure. 30 queen cells were measured in 2 
places: Thai Nguyen city and Dong Hy district, 15 cells in each 
place. For worker bee comb and drone comb: using a caliper square 
to measure: the width (diameter) of combs.10 drone combs and 
worker bee combs were measured. Medium size of a comb was 
calculated by using the formula 
(In which: D: width of drone comb, worrker bee comb; ld: 
width of 10 drone comb and worker comb; 10:number of drone comb 
and worker comb in a tỉme of measurement. 
Then, a sharp razor was used to cut each comb to measure its 
length. 06 colonies in 02 study places were conducted (in Thai 
Nguyen city and Dong Hy district). The calculation formula was 
similar to the one used for measuring the width. 
- The weight of 3 types of bees: 
+ Weight of young queen and adult queen (laying queen): 
young queens were selected from three different origins (queen made 
from natural colony division, artificially raised queen and 
5 
supercedure queen) one day after emerging, queen was weighed in 0 
- 3 hours. 1 day before emerging, queen cells were kept in wire cages 
put in beehive, 05 queens from each origin were weighed. Laying 
queens were the queens after mating successfully with drones that 
returned to their hive to lay eggs, laying queens were weighed at 15 
days after having laid, 05 queens from each of the different origins 
were weighed. 
+ Weight of new emerging and adult drones: weight of new 
emerging drone bees and 15 day old drones were weighed. drone 
pupa honeycombs were kept in an incubator, emerging drones were 
caught to weigh 0-3 hours after emerging. 10 drones of each colony 
were weighed, then the drones having been weighed was marked by 
acetone dye, then the bees were released and weighed 10 days after 
emerging. 
+ Weight of new emerging and adult worker bees: worker bee 
pupa honeycombs were kept in an incubator to monitor emerging, 
Emerging worker bees were caught to weigh 0 - 3 hours after 
emerging. 10 worker bees of each colony were weighed, then the 
worker bees having been weighed was marked by acetone dye, then 
the bees were released and weighed 10 days after emerging. 
The weight of queen bee is calculated by using the following 
formula: P = P1 - P2 
(In which: P1: weight of queen, drone and their cage; P2: weight 
of the cage). 
3 different kind of bees was weighed by using an electronic 
scale. This was carried out in institute of life science in Thai Nguyen 
university of agriculture and forestry. 
- The relationship between the origin of birth, season with 
oviducts of queen: 30 queens from 3 different origins (queen from 
natural colony division, artificial queen and supersedure queen) born 
in two different seasons were selected (Spring - Summer and Autumn 
- Winter). There were 05 queens in each season. The queens were 
anesthetized and soaked in a solution of 15 parts of saturated picric 
acid, 5 parts of formaldehyde,1 part of pure acetic acid to fix the 
ovaries. After 20-24 hours,the queens were taken out to wash with 
70-90 ° alcohol 3-4 times and then soaked in 70-90 ° alcohol for 
preservation.A specialized surgical instrument for insects was used, a 
small needle was used to separate one ovary from the 2 ovaries. Then 
6 
theywere placed on glass slides. Then each ovarywas separated to 
count number of oviducts by using a microscope. Number of 
oviducts of both ovaries were counted, Number of oviducts of the 
queens was the average number of oviducts of both ovaries.The 
experiment was conducted at the Central centre for bee Research and 
Development. 
- The relationship between weight of laying queen with a 
number of oviducts: Necropsy was performed in 25 queens with 
different weight (≤ 190 mg, 191-195 mg; 196 - 200 mg; 201-205 mg 
dissected at the same time. Sampling, sample preservation and 
counting oviducts were similar to the methods used in, "the 
relationship between the origin of birth, and season with number of 
oviducts of queens". 
Volume and size of spermatheca: After the queens were 
dissected to sepate 2 ovaries, sperrmatheca of 25 queens from 3 
different sources, (05 queens from each source and season).The 
spermatheca were separated (intact), each time 5 sperrmatheca of the 
queens from the same source and season were separated and put in a 
calibrated glass tube that contained a little water. Volume of water 
before and after being put in sperrmatheca of the queens was 
recorded. Average volume of sperrmatheca of the queens was 
calculated based on the formular below: 
(In which: V volume of sperrmatheca; : volume of water in a 
measuring cyclider prior to spermatheca being put, t; : volume of 
water in a measuring cyclider after spermatheca being put; 5:number 
of samples). 
Then an electronic caliper square was used to measure the 
length and width of the sperrmatheca. The measurement was 
conducted in the L ... ied to mate with drones in the early afternoon, the 
specific flying time of queens mating with drones from 13h00 - 
14h00 was 20.00% concentrating at the time of 14h00- 15:00, rate of 
queens flying to mate with drones in that time period was 80.00%. 
3.3.4. Times of queen’s mating with drones 
The results obtained are given in table 3.13. 
Table 3.13. Times of queen’s mating with drones 
Địa điểm n 
Times of mating 
once twice 3 lầtimes 
n 
(queen) 
Percentage 
(%) 
n 
(queen) 
Percentage 
(%) 
n 
(queen) 
Percentage 
(%) 
Thai Nguyen city 8 3 37,50 4 50,00 1 12,50 
Dong Hy district 7 2 28,57 4 57,14 1 14,28 
Total 15 5 33,04 8 53,57 2 13,39 
18 
From table 3.13 we found that number of bees flying for 
mating between two places was ínsignificantly different, Number of 
queens flying for mating once in 02 monitored places accounted for 
28.57 to 37.50% (average: 33.04%), number of queens flying for 
making twice was the highest rate (from 50.00 to 57.14%, (average: 
53.57%) and number of queen flying for mating 3 times was the 
lowest making up 12.50 - 14.28% (average 13.39%). 
3.3.5. Number of eggs laid by queen 
The results are given in table 3.14a. 
Bảng 3.14a. Relatioship between origin qnd season with number 
of eggs laid by queen 
Index Origin, season 
n 
queen) 
Number of eggs laijd during 24h 
Thai Nguyen 
xmx 
 Dồng Hy 
xmx 
I 
Origin spring - summer 
1. Naturally raised queen 5 382,34a 2,38 378,56a 2,47 
2. Artificial raised queen 5 365,67b 3,42 357,20b 3,40 
3. Supersedure queen 5 314,82c 3,26 312,68c 3,78 
Average 15 354,28 349,48 
II 
season 
1. Spring - summer 5 356,12a 2,72 344,80a 3,36 
2. Autumn - Winter 5 210,35b 3,54 208,62b 3,56 
Average 10 283,24 276,71 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbers carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
The results in table 3.14a indicate that For queens made during 
natural colony division reared in Thai nguyen had very higher 
reproductive power compared with natural queens, in Dong Hy 
district number of eggs laid by this queen was 3.78 (382.34 versus 
378.56), Similarly, number of eggs laid by artificial queen was 8.47, 
and number of eggs laid by superseduce queen was 2.14 and this 
difference was not statistically significant. In different seasons, 
reproductive power of the queens was markedly different. Number of 
eggs laid by the queen in Spring - Summer in two places was higher 
than that in Autumn - Winter, number of eggs laid in Spring - 
Summer accounted for 56.01% higher than hat in Autumn - Winter 
(average 350 46 compared with 209.48 eggs). 
3.3.6. Relationship between queen age and number of eggs laid 
The results of monitoring 25 queens at the different age are given 
in table 3.15. 
19 
Table 3.15. Relatioship between queen age and number of eggs laid 
Index Age of queen( month) 
n 
(queen) 
Number of eggs laid 
xmx 
Cv (%) 
1 ≤ 6 5 359,42a 2,80 8,76 
2 7 - 12 5 378,14b 3,52 9,34 
3 13 - 18 3 306,54c 3,74 8,81 
4 > 18 3 210,82d 3,20 9,05 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbers carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
From table 3.15. we found that the age of the queen was 
closely related to the laying ability. Laying ability of young queen 
was higher, in the queen group aged ≤ 6 months egg laying reached 
359.42. and laying ability in queen bee group aged 7-12 months was 
the highest (378, 14 eggs), then dropped to 306.54 in the queen group 
at the age of 13-18 months and only reached 210.82 eggs when the 
queen was more than 18 months old. The difference in the number of 
eggs laid by the queen among four age groups was statitistically 
signìicant with P <0.05. 
3.4. several biological and reproductive characteristics of drones 
3.4.1.Number of drones with season 
The results are given in table 3.18. 
Table 3.18. Number of drones with season 
Season 
Number of 
colonies 
Số number of drones/colony 
(drone) Comparason 
(%) 
xmx Cv (%) 
Spring - summer 15 627,28a 3,82 7,60 100 
Summer - Autumn 15 67,20b 3,40 8,15 10,71 
Autumn - Winter 15 424,54c 4,65 8,10 67,68 
Winter - spring 15 58,72d 3,20 7,62 9,36 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbers carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
From table 3:18 we found that in Thai Nguyen, thank to 
favourable ecological conditions and rich food sources in Spring - 
Summer, number of drones hatching in these season also increased 
(627.28 drones), whereas in Autumn Winter flowers and food 
resources are not as rich as in Spring and Summer, so number of 
drones in these seasons was lower than that in Spring - Summer 
(424.54 drones). Also Summer - Autumn is the hottest time of the 
20 
year; due to severe weather conditions, high temperature, scarcity of 
flowers, number of drones in these seasons was very low (67.20 drones/ 
colony). Like Summer - Autumn, in Winter - Spring the weather is cold, 
so there were very few drones in bee colonies (58,.72 drones). 
3.4.2. Number of spermatozoa produced by drones 
The results obtained are given in table 3.21. 
Table 3.21. Relatioship between season and number 
of spermatozoa produced by drones 
Index Season 
n 
(drone) 
Number of spermatozoa produced by drones 
(tmillion); 
xmx Cv (%) 
I 
In the mating season 
1. spring - summer 5 1,68a 0,10 8,68 
2. Autumn - Winter 5 1,34b 0,12 7,45 
II 
Seasons other than 
mating seasons 
1. summer - Autumn 5 1,19c 0,14 8,12 
2. Winter - spring 5 1,06d 0,23 7,84 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbers carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
From table 3:21 we found that in the mating season, number of 
spermatozoa produced by drone was higher than that in the other 
seasons. Specifically, during the mating season drone produced from 
1.34 to 1.68 million spermatozoa (Autumn Winter and spring - 
summer), also in the seasons other than the mating season, number of 
spermatozoa produced by drone declined significantly, from 1.06 to 
only 1.19 million. The reason for the difference in number of 
spermatozoa produced by drone in the seasons other than the mating 
season is that in the mating season there is a source of rich food and 
drones themselves are taken better care of by worker bees ,vice versa, 
in the seasons other than the mating season there is little food, drones 
are not well taken care of, even drones are expelled from their hive left 
to starve or freeze to die, when food reserves in the hive have depleted. 
3.4.3. Relationship between weight and number of spermatozoa 
produced by drones 
The study results are given in table 3.22. 
21 
Table 3.22. Relationship between weight and number of spermatozoa 
produced by drones 
Index 
Weight of drone 
(mg) 
n 
Number of spermatozoa 
produced by droneg đực 
(triệu); 
xmx 
Comparison 
(%) 
1 ≤120 5 1,12a 0,28 100 
2 121 - 123 5 1,24b 0,25 110,71 
3 124 - 126 5 1,37c 0,12 122,32 
4 127 - 129 5 1,52d 0,11 135,71 
5 > 129 5 1,66e 0,14 148,21 
Correlation coefficient (r) 0.67 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbers carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
The data in table 3 : 22 show that drone had number of 
spermatozoa from 1.12 to 1.66 million/drone. Number of 
spermatozoa varied quite largely, depending on body weight or in 
other words, number of spermatozoa of drone of Apis cerana bee had 
direct ratio to their body weight. While the group with their body 
weight under 120 mg had only 1.12 million spermatozoa, the group 
with their body weight of 121-123 mg had 1.24 million spermatozoa 
(increassed 10.71%), the group with body weight of 124 -126mg had 
1.37 million spermatozoa (increased 22.32 %) and group with body 
weight of 127 - 129 mg had 1.52 million spermatozoa (an increase of 
35.71 %). Especially, the group of drones with larger body weight 
(over 129 mg) had the highest number of spermatozoa1.66 million) 
increased by 48.21 % compared to drones with smaller body weight 
120mg. The difference between the group of drone bees with different 
body weight was statistically significant with P < 0.05. 
3.5. Several biological and reproductive characteristics of worrker bees 
3.5.1. Number of oviducts and ovary size of worker bee 
At necropsy of 30 worker bees in the 2 different study places,15 
bees were dissected in each place. The results are given in table 3.23. 
Table 3.23. Number of oviducts and ovary size of worker bee 
Index Place 
n 
(worker bee) 
Number of oviducts 
(oviduct)
xmx 
Size of ovary (mm) 
Lenght Width 
1 Thai Nguyen 5 9,52a 2,51 0,064 0,045 
2 Dong Hy 5 9, 38a 2,20 0,062 0,043 
Average 9,45 0,063 0,044 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbers carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
22 
The results in table 23.3 show that number of oviducts of worker 
bee in 2 study places was not significantly different, average mumber 
was 9.45 tubes / ovảry. Number of eggs laid by worker bees reared in 
Thai Nguyen city was 9.52, while worker bees reared in Dong Hy 
district had 9.38 oviducts. The size of ovary was not significantly 
different either. In Thai Nguyen city, size of ovary of worker bees 
was 0.064 in Length and 0.045 mm in Width, similarly in Dong Hy 
district that was 0.062 x 0,043mm, average was 0.063 x 0,044mm. 
3.5.2. Time of eggs laid by worker bee aftẻ beeing separated 
from queen 
The results are given in table 3.24. 
Table 3.24. Time of worker bee laying after being separated from queen 
Index season 
n 
(colony) 
Time of laying (day) 
xmx 
Cv (%) 
1 . Spring - summer 5 8,04a 0,60 11,04 
2 Summer -Autumn 5 19,50b 0,46 10,37 
3 Autumn - Winter 5 8,15a 0,84 11,42 
4 . Winter - spring 5 20,16b 0,32 10,65 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbers carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
The results in Table 3.24 reveal that in Spring - Summer and 
Autumn - Winter laying time of worker bee sooner than that in 
Summer - Autumn and winter - Spring, particularly in the worker bee 
group in Spring - Summer and Autumn - Winter, laying time of 
worker bee from time of queen sepaation was from 8.04 to 8.14 days, 
while in group in Summer - Autumn and Winter- Spring was 19.50 to 
20.16 days, The difference between the two seasonal groups was 
statistically significant with P <0.05. 
3.6. Lifespan of 3 bee types 
The results obtained are given in table 3.25. 
Table 3.25. Lifespan of 3 bee types 
Type of bee n (bee) Life span (day) xmx Cv (%) 
1. Queen 
1.Naturally raised queen 5 804,54a 4,20 11,42 
2.Artificial raised queen 5 768,19b 4,34 12,14 
3. Supersedure queen 5 668,35c 4,56 11,67 
Average 747,03 
2. drone 50 126,30 3,66 11,33 
3. worker bee 50 42,61 3,75 11,62 
* In the same column,with the same indicator group the numbersr carrying 
different letters were different in statistical signifficance with P<0,05 
23 
From table 3:25 we found that average lifespan of naturally 
raised queen was 804.54 days (equivalent to 26.80 months or 2.23 
years), higher than Artificial raised queen, wich was 768.19 days (25 
61 months or 2.13 years. the average lifespan of drone was 126.30 
days (equivalent to 4.21 months), average lifespan of worker bee was 
42.61 days. 
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 
1. Conclusion 
Apis cerana bee subspecies being kept and exploited in in 
Thai Nguyen belongs to Apis cerana indica subspecies yield of this 
subspecies is lower than that of Apis cerana cerana subspecies. 
The comb volume and weight of 3 bee levels kept and 
exơloited in Thai Nguyen are equivalent to those in other places. 
Weight of queen is from 155,56mg to 200,87mg, weight of queen 
varying depends on the origin and season. Number of oviducts of 
queen reared in Thai Nguyen is from 90.67 to 92.70 depending on the 
season. This has direct ratio to their weight. The volume of 
spermatheca of queen reared in Thai Nguyen varies from 33.56 - 
34,05μl containing from 3.19 to 3.21 million of spermatozoa. The 
volume and number of spermatozoa in the spermatheca is also 
influenced by season, origin, weight and age of the queen. 
Division rate of Apis cerana bee colonies in Thai Nguyen in 
Spring - Summer is 90.67 %, in Autumn - Winter is 32.31 %. This 
rate may change depending on location, season and colony size, 
number of queen cells built ranges from 9.13 to 11.50. Apis cerana 
queens reared in Thai Nguyen often take orientation flight and 
mating flight between 15:00-14h00 o’clock,the mating frequency is 
1-3 times on sunny days. Number of eggs laid by queens is around 
283.24 to 354.28 eggs/ day. This number depends on season, origin, 
having positive correlation to the weight and negative correlation to 
the age of the queen. 
With large colony, number of drones in colonies varies greatly, 
depending on season, colony size and amount of food reserved by 
bees. In spring - summer size (6 honeycombs) number of drones is up 
to 778.40, whereas with small colony size in Winter - Spring there 
are only 58.72 to 484.55 drones. Number of spermatozoa in drones of 
24 
Apis cerana in Thai Nguyen ranges from 1.06 to 1.66 million of 
spermatozoa, depending on season and is positively correlated with 
the weight of drones. 
Further studies on the biological and reproductive Average 
number of oviducts in ovary of Apis cerana worker bee kept in Thai 
Nguyen is 9.45. Laying time after being separated from queeens 
ranges from 8.04 to 20.16 days depending on the season. 
The average lifespan of Apis cerana queen bee in Thai Nguyen 
is 747.03 days (equivalent to 24.90 months or 2.10 years), that of 
drone is 201.19 (equivalent to 6.73 months) and that of worker bees 
is 42.61 days, depending on the season. 
2. Recommendation 
1. Out to get compared with the overall picture of biological and 
indicators of domestic Apis cerana bees in different regions should be 
carried reproductive characteristics of domesstic bees in Viet Nam. 
2. Domestic Apis cerana bees kept in Thai Nguyen mainly is 
Apis cerana indica subspecies. In order to gradually improve and 
enhance productivity of beekeeping, the bodies concerned should 
strengthen the conservation of the Apis cerana cerana bee subspecies 
in Thai Nguyen because it has high yield of honey, colony potential 
is greater than that of Apis cerana indica subspecies. 
3. The results of this study can be used as a document to serve 
for study, teaching, agricultural extension activities of beekeeping 
among people.