No abstract

Successful honey bee breeding programmes require traits that can be genetically improved by selection. Heritabilities for production, behaviour, and health traits, as well as their phenotypic correlations, were estimated in two distinct Swiss Apis mellifera mellifera and Apis mellifera carnica populations based on 9 years of performance records and more than two decades of pedigree information. Breeding values were estimated by a best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) approach, taking either queen or worker effects into account. In A. m. mellifera, the highest heritabilities were obtained for defensive behaviour, calmness during inspection, and hygienic behaviour, while in A. m. carnica, honey yield and hygienic behaviour were the most heritable traits. In contrast, estimates for infestation rates by Varroa destructor suggest that the phenotypic variation cannot be attributed to an additive genetic origin in either population. The highest phenotypic correlations were determined between defensive behaviour and calmness during inspection. The implications of these findings for testing methods and the management of the breeding programme are discussed.

In scientific literature, host resistance of Apis mellifera against its parasite Varroa destructor is often presented as a potential solution to enable a sustainable relationship between both species and secure pollination and beekeeping services. Surprisingly, there are only few studies investigating the interest of beekeepers for this topic. In this paper, we propose a method to assess the desirability of resistance as part of a breeding goal, with a particular focus on small closed populations. The Swiss population of Apis mellifera mellifera is taken as case study. The general importance of this selection objective as well as the variability of the acceptance of beekeepers are studied. Thereafter, the willingness to pay for resistance is assessed to highlight possible compromises beekeepers could accept between different qualities they expect from their honey bees. Finally, the main characteristics of the breeding program desired by the beekeepers are presented. In our example, beekeepers are generally in favour of resistant honey bees even if differences in the expected breeding goals were identified. The majority is interested in a breeding strategy to select for resistant stock even though honey bees would produce less honey, swarm more often or be less gentle, showing a clear desirability for resistant traits. Furthermore, we noticed that beekeepers prefer locally selected honey bees displaying a broad genetic diversity. The presented method can be easily applied to evaluate the acceptance of new breeding objectives and to assess the potential of future strategies focusing on resistance against V. destructor in breeding programs involving beekeepers and research institutes.