Evaluation of Morris Board Queen Rearing Technique in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

The Agricultural Research Center of Adami Tulu, Ethiopia, conducted experiments to artificially rear bee queens using Morris Board and Splitting-methods. Six colonies of bees were randomly assigned to conduct experiments. In three honeybee colonies, the queens were isolated during the experiment and remained in Brood Chamber/Box using a screen board, while the remaining colonies were split to rear the queens. The two methods of breeding the honeybee queen show a very significant difference (P0.001) in the number of cells constructed, the number of sealed honeybee queen cells, and the number of egg/producing honeybee queens. In addition, there was very significant difference (P0.001) between the two methods used in the cost-benefit aspect. The honeybee queen was found to have cost significantly reduced when raising the honeybee queen with Morris boards compared to a split one. However, the current experiment does not have a significant difference in honeybee bred populations and honey yield, and other honeybee colonies receive young queens raised in two ways. It follows that Morris-board's honeybee breeding techniques are highly effective and cost-effective in producing honeybee queens for the multiplication of honeybee colonies to the best of ordinary farmers' skills and financial capabilities. Therefore, demonstration of technology is of principally important considering the country's widespread biophysical differences in order to exploit the technology in an attempt to artificially grow honeybee queens.