44th world honey bee congress was performed in Korea, 2015. In the genetic and breeding symposium essays were presented about genetic resources preserving, creation resistance against honey bee pests and disease, using new molecular methods to breeding and conservation of genetic resources by utilizing common quantitative methods.Genetic researches and breeding taking advantages of new biotechnology and molecular breeding methods by using genomic procedure,trying to create resistance against pests and diseases like Chalkrood and Varroa .one of Factors which affect on decreasing of colonies population is mite Varroa , cause loss of genetic diversity in many honey bee populations in the world. Trying to make genetic resistance against Varroa is one of the most important honey bee researches in the world which is doing by different methods.

Selective honey bee breeding is a phenomenon that fascinates beekeepers around the world. They often regard it as one of the most enigmatic and complex aspects of beekeeping. Indeed, according to our experiences participating in many international projects, both beekeepers and bee experts without a background in plant or animal breeding often have trouble correctly interpreting and conceptually visualizing the breeding process. These difficulties arise partly because of the complex reproductive biology of honey bees, where queens mate with a multitude of drones. Fundamentally the greatest struggle for people to understand is how selection of animals with preferred characteristics in one generation leads to improved progeny in the next. The leading misconception regarding honey bee breeding is confusing breeding with the simple rearing and multiplication of queens, where individual queens are evaluated predominantly by their egg laying ability and body size. Those two markers of queen quality (fecundity and size) are certainly important for the propagation of queens, but selective breeding requires more than propagation. Selectivebreeding implies the intentional selection for genetic improvement of the population as a whole, with every new generation improved compared to the previous one, ideally for all traits of interest.

The aim of this comparison was to perform the modified queens of the Iranian honey bee breeding plan in comparison with the control queens in the apiaries of the special sector in the 14th - 18th generation. To evaluate the queens, questionnaires were designed and are available to the obstetricians of Isfahan provinces, so that the queens of the third layer of the plan are visible next to the queens. The modified queens were evaluated and compared with the control queens in 7 apiaries of Isfahan province in 2016-2019. The results of comparing the modified queens and observing the brooding behavior and the wintering behavior showed that there is no significant difference between them. The attributes of defensive behavior and calmness related to modified queens were significantly superior to control queens only in 2017 (P<0.05). Also, the trait of honey production of modified queens in 2017 and 2019 was significantly superior to the control queens (P<0.05). Considering the superiority of modified queens in some traits, it is necessary to continue the project in order to stabilize The genetics of these traits should be used and modern breeding methods should be used to create colonies that are compatible with the climatic conditions of different regions of the country.

In this research after evaluation and selecting the best colonies during the 1999-2005 bred queens of sixth and seventh generation were compared، with control queens in different apiaries of Tehran، Isfahan، Markazi and Qazvin provinces. Comparison of 6th and 7th generation، of Iranian honeybee bred queens with control queens in Tehran، Qazvin، Markazi and Isfahan provinces were showed desire improvement in swarming calmness and defense behavior of bred queens. Swarming behavior evaluation of two groups in 2005 and 2006 were showed superiority of bred queens significantly (P<0. 01). Calmness and defense behavior comparison of two groups were showed the bred queens were better than control queens in 2005 and 2006 (P<0. 01). High heritability caused desire improvement of these traits in honeybee breeding plans and also in the present research in fifth and sixth generation of bred queens. Honey production comparison of two groups were showed the preference of bred queens in 2005 (P<0. 05) but no significant differences in 2006 and total of years (P>0. 05). Lower heritability of honey production and it’s dependence on environmental and climatic factors caused undesirable improvement of honey production in the breeding plans and the results of present plan to confirm the last results and needs to long time for desire progress. For sustainable and health production should try to improve the honey production and also other traits such as important pest and diseases resistance in honeybee breeding project continuing.

Honey bees hygienic behavior is the primary natural defense against Varroa mite, American foul brood and chalk brood disease and are controlled by genetic and environmental factors. Hygienic behavior includes of three stages of detecting, uncapping and removing of infected or dead brood from the colony. However, this behavior is quite rare, with only 10% of unselected colonies showing high levels of hygiene. Beekeepers can potentially increase this by screening colonies for hygiene and breeding from the best.
In this study hygienic behaviors and infestation rates of Varroa mite is evaluated in bee colonies. The study was accomplished on 100 honey bee colonies. The rate of uncapping and removal of dead broods was determined in resistant and control colonies. To determine the hygienic behavior, liquid Nitrogen was used to kill pupae. The number of uncapped and discharged cells were counted in the three periods of 24, 48 and 72 hours after the pouring of liquid nitrogen.
According to results the examined colonies exhibited noticeable phenotypic variation for Hygienic behavior. At the first stage (spring) %21 and in the second stage (summer) %18 of colonies showed good hygienic behavior. Uncapping rates in days showed significant correlation with removing rates in the same recording day (PThe results of this research and other studies conducted by other Iranian researchers show that Iranian honeybee has shown higher hygienic behavior against Varroa mite. In this study resistant and stable colonies were selected for bee breeding projects at the end of the year. By selecting and implementing good breeding programs, it is possible to increase the rate of these behaviors in order to create Varroa mite-resistant populations. It seems that hygienic colonies selecting for resistance to Varroa mite will have satisfactory results in the future.

Iranian honeybees have advantages and disadvantages in terms of performance and behavioral traits compared to other honeybee races in the world. The current study was aimed to evaluate the performance of the 14th - 18th generations of breeding improved queens in Iranian Honey Bee Breeding Program, and their comparison with control queens kept in private apiaries. To evaluate the queens, specific questionnaires were designed and completed by beekeepers in their apiaries based on the performance of queens in third layer. Evaluation of queens in 11 apiaries of Alborz province was compared with control queens. Comparison of improved and control queens in terms of swarming and calmness showed there was no significant difference between them. The results showed that in terms of honey production, control queens are superior in one year and there is no difference between them in another year. The results showed that in terms of aggressive behavior, the bred queens were significantly superior to the control queens (P <0.05). Totally, improvement of mentioned traits in some years and superiority of the bred queens in all the provinces of the country, showed that continuing with the effort to genetically stabilize these traits and also use new breeding methods to establish colonies that are compatible with the climatic conditions of the coming years and new problems of the beekeeping industry are required

Hygienic behavior is important defense mechanism of honeybee colonies. This behavior protected the colonies against various pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and some parasites similar varroa mite. One of Hygienic behavior is consist of detecting of damaged or died brood, uncapping their cells and removing the broods. This study was carried out on 100 colonies of honeybee breeding project of Iran. Uncapping and removing and also some performance traits such as honey production, defense behavior and population size of honeybee colonies were evaluated in the spring and summer. Results showed considerable phenotypic variation of uncapping and removing in the honey bee colonies. 21 and 18 percent of colonies had desirable hygienic behavior in the first and second period of research. Results showed there are no significant correlation between defense behavior and hygienic behavior. Obtained results showed the removing have significant correlation with population size (P<0.05), honey production have significant correlation with uncapping (P<0.01) and removing behavior (P<0.05). Based on these results it seems the selection of hygienic colonies in honeybee breeding programs can make good progress in the future.

There has been extensive ongoing research on honey bees over the last 100 years, mainly due to their vital role in society, particularly in agriculture, economics, food security, medicine, and even computing technologies. Our knowledge is growing faster than our ability to absorb it. The most common and prominent honey bee species in Iran is the western honey bee, Apis mellifera, which includes the Iranian honey bee, Carniolan, and Iranian × Carniolan hybrids. The objective of this study was to identify the effects of crossbreeding on population dynamics, egg-laying rate, propolis production, honey yields, pollen collection, and defensive behavior in Iranian (Apis mellifera meda) bees. In early March 2021 (the end of the colonies' wintering season), eight colonies of each of the three bee breeds were randomly selected and standardized based on honey and pollen storage, the number of brood frames, initial population, and hive type (Langstroth hives). The tested colonies did not receive any chemical treatments during the experiment. Data collection and recording of egg-laying rates and brood rearing were conducted weekly during spring 2021 at the Honey Bee Research Centre, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran (35.27788; 46.99562). Data quality control and analysis were performed using the SAS program. The results showed that Iranian × Carniolan hybrids were more efficient than the parental stocks in terms of population dynamics and pollen collection (p<0.05), indicating positive heterosis and complementarity between the breeds. Carniolan (Apis mellifera carnica) bees demonstrated significantly favorable performance for honey yields (p<0.05). Iranian (Apis mellifera meda) bees were superior in propolis production and exhibited higher levels of aggressiveness, significantly (p<0.05). Heterosis was estimated based on the superiority of observed phenotypes in the hybrids relative to their inbred parents. The estimated heterosis values were -3.8% for honey yields, 32.6% for pollen collection, 10.0% for egg-laying rate, 24.5% for population growth rate, -2.1% for propolis production, and -16.3% for aggressiveness. The highest level of phenotypic diversity was observed in the Iranian honey bee, suggesting the potential benefits of this breed for selection programs. Additionally, the findings revealed that the controlled use of higher-performance lines, either in pure or hybrid forms, will improve the efficiency of honey bee colonies and is recommended.

The current study was aimed to evaluate the performance of the 13th generation of breeding improved queens in Iran Honey Bee Breeding Program, and to compare them with control queens kept in private apiaries. The mother queens were reproduced by beekeepers in south of Iran to evaluate and compare these queens with queens reproduced in private apiaries across the country. To evaluate the queens, specific questionnaires were designed based on Likert scale and completed by beekeepers. The results showed that the improved queens had better performance than control queens in terms of swarming, defensive behavior and overwintering in comparison of queens kept in private apiaries. In other words, the genetically imprived colonies significantly are different from control colonies (P

Honey production is correlated to some behavior‚ productive and morphological characteristic in honeybee colonies. In the other hand‚ fluctuation of these traits simultaneously can increase or decrease of honey production in colonies. Determining the correlated traits of honey production‚ can help the researchers and beekeepers to identify the best colonies with lower cost and during the fewer time. This research has tried to find the correlation between honey production and worker foraging behavior through different methods in 10th generation colonies of “Honey Breeding Project of Iran”. In the first method‚ in the sunny day and without wind in the hours between 11 and13‚while the hive entrance was closed‚ pictures were taken front of each hive. The pictures were taken at the same distances of hives‚ by a camera that was equipped with macro lens. Then the bees were counted in front of each colony or hive. In the second method‚ the number of bees that going out and return back to the hive also the numbers of returned foragers with pollen load were counted during 2 minutes in front of each hive entrance. Counting the foragers was done in the morning and afternoon of the same day for all of the colonies. The obtained data were compared through T-test analysis program in high and low production colonies and different times. The obtained data were showed the retuned bees (P<0.05) and returned bees with pollen load (P<0.05) in high production colonies were more than low production colonies (in both of methods). But the number of bees that were going out of colonies has not significant differentness. Our results showed that the number of foragers in the morning were more than afternoon in the some days (P<0.05). So the number of forager bees has positive correlation with honey production in honeybee colonies. Therefore‚ the number of foragers of colonies can help the beekeepers and researchers to select the best colonies in order to establish the next generations.