INFLUENCE OF HIVE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS ON TERMOREGULATION AND BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF APIS MELLIFERA LINNAEUS, 1758 IN A TEMPERATE SUBCONTINENTAL CLIMATE AREA

The Po Valley is the geographical area that extend along the idiographic basin of the Po River. Due to its position and morphological characteristics, the Po Valley has a temperate subcontinental climate with long, cold winters and hot, humid summers. In recent years, however, the climate has changed, with dry winters, hot and dry summers and rainfall, mostly thunderstorms, concentrated in spring. This atypical weather trend poses a serious problem for beekeeping. Extreme events such as cloudbursts, unseasonal cold spells and prolonged periods of no rain can affect flowering and therefore the bee’s possibility to forage; climate change may affect colony homeostasis affecting the thermoregulatory abilities of bees in different seasons. A possible solution could be to replace the wood in hives with other materials to facilitate inside-hives insulation to help beethermoregulation. In the present research, from 2022 to the beginning of 2024, we compared the effects on thermoregulation and general well-being of honeybee colonies in aluminium and cork hives with the classic wooden hives. Colonies were located in Montanaso Lombardo (Lombardy, Italy) and were provided with data loggers to detect inside-hive temperatures. Inspections were carried out at least fortnightly from spring to late summer to evaluate biological parameters (brood, queen presence or replacement, worker mortality), and productivity (honey produced, pollen collected). Statistical analysis showed a significant effect (p<001) of the materials on the daily temperature oscillation in the different monitoring periods, with less fluctuation inside aluminiumcork hive. However, this variability did not result in any significant effects on the biological parameters considered. In conclusion in the geographical area considered aluminium and cork hives seem to play similar role in the survival of the colonies. However, considering that differences in thermoregulation were detected, we need to evaluate in different climatic conditions, the biological responses in the colonies could be different.