BREEDING AND REPRODUCTION OF ZONED HONEY BEE BREEDS IN THE EASTERN REGION OF KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study on Central Russian honey bees under the conditions of East Kazakhstan based on data from the East Kazakhstan Institute of Agriculture. The findings demonstrate that Central Russian bees continue to retain significant economic value, especially in regions characterized by severe climatic and environmental conditions. This breed was formed through long-term evolution and natural selection, which contributed to the development of important biological and economically useful traits, including high winter hardiness, resistance to adverse environmental factors, disease tolerance, and good productivity. The breeding of Central Russian bees is of particular importance for East Kazakhstan due to the urgent need to preserve the local population adapted to the specific conditions of the region. Another important objective is to meet the demand of beekeeping farms in different regions of Kazakhstan for high-quality breeding material of local selection and to reduce dependence on imported low-quality package bees. The study included an assessment of economically valuable traits of bee colonies, a morphological analysis of exterior characteristics, and statistical processing of the obtained numerical data. Special attention was paid to the inheritance of selectively valuable traits in the offspring of Central Russian bees. The results showed that the experimental group of line 78 SM-13 exceeded the control group by 3.24% in egg-laying capacity and by 12.12% in honey productivity. The obtained data indicate the prospects for further breeding work with the local population of Central Russian bees and confirm the feasibility of their wider use in beekeeping in East Kazakhstan and other regions of the country.