Phenotypic correlations of field and laboratory tests with honey production in Africanized honey bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>)

Zárate, Oscar; Araujo-Freitas, Chavier de; Medina-Medina, Luis A.; Velásquez, Alfonso; Quezada‐Euán, José Javier G.

doi:10.1051/apido:2008036

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Certain studies in the literature have shown a positive phenotypic correlation between the amounts of syrup gathered or collected by bees (hoarding behavior) in the laboratory/field and the honey production in the hives (Olszewski and Paleolog, 2005; Zárate et al , 2008). Another study also found a positive correlation (Pearson) between PP and HP in Africanized honeybees, with r = 0.422 (p = 0.00001256), showing that the bees that produced more propolis also produced more honey (Manrique and Soares, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic parameters for five traits in Africanized honeybees using Bayesian inference

et al. 2013

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Heritability and genetic correlations for honey (HP) and propolis production (PP), hygienic behavior (HB), syrup-collection rate (SCR) and percentage of mites on adult bees (PMAB) of a population of Africanized honeybees were estimated. Data from 110 queen bees over three generations were evaluated. Single and multi-trait models were analyzed by Bayesian Inference using MTGSAM. The localization of the hive was significant for SCR and HB and highly significant for PP. Season-year was highly significant only for SCR. The number of frames with bees was significant for HP and PP, including SCR. The heritability estimates were 0.16 for HP, 0.23 for SCR, 0.52 for HB, 0.66 for PP, and 0.13 for PMAB. The genetic correlations were positive among productive traits (PP, HP and SCR) and negative between productive traits and HB, except between PP and HB. Genetic correlations between PMAB and other traits, in general, were negative, except with PP. The study permitted to identify honeybees for improved propolis and honey production. Hygienic behavior may be improved as a consequence of selecting for improved propolis production. The rate of syrup consumption and propolis production may be included in a selection index to enhance honeybee traits.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic parameters for five traits in Africanized honeybees using Bayesian inference

et al. 2013

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“…; Pereira & Chaud‐Netto ; Zárate et al . ; Livanis & Moss ). These factors, but particularly their heightened defensiveness (Collins et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A SNP test to identify Africanized honeybees via proportion of ‘African’ ancestry

Chapman

Harpur

Lim

et al. 2015

Molecular Ecology Resources

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The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is the world's most important pollinator and is ubiquitous in most agricultural ecosystems. Four major evolutionary lineages and at least 24 subspecies are recognized. Commercial populations are mainly derived from subspecies originating in Europe (75–95%). The Africanized honeybee is a New World hybrid of A. m. scutellata from Africa and European subspecies, with the African component making up 50–90% of the genome. Africanized honeybees are considered undesirable for bee‐keeping in most countries, due to their extreme defensiveness and poor honey production. The international trade in honeybees is restricted, due in part to bans on the importation of queens (and semen) from countries where Africanized honeybees are extant. Some desirable strains from the United States of America that have been bred for traits such as resistance to the mite Varroa destructor are unfortunately excluded from export to countries such as Australia due to the presence of Africanized honeybees in the USA. This study shows that a panel of 95 single nucleotide polymorphisms, chosen to differentiate between the African, Eastern European and Western European lineages, can detect Africanized honeybees with a high degree of confidence via ancestry assignment. Our panel therefore offers a valuable tool to mitigate the risks of spreading Africanized honeybees across the globe and may enable the resumption of queen and bee semen imports from the Americas.

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“…Pupal weight, corbicular size, and proboscis length have been correlated honey production in temperate honey bees (Milne Jr. 1980;Milne Jr. and Pries 1984). In AHBs, honey production is also influenced by pupal weight (Souza et al 2002;Zárate et al 2008) and significantly correlated with the corbicular area (Souza et al 2002). Indeed, smaller bees may have limited capacity to carry large or heavy loads (Milne Jr. and Pries 1986), reducing the opportunity of colonies to accumulate large reserves which in turn may compromise colony reproduction and survival, as well as productivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intranidal temperature and body size of Africanized honey bees under heatwaves (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

et al. 2019

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It is generally accepted that temperate subspecies of honey bees can maintain stable temperatures inside their nests; however, little information is available on the cooling ability of tropical honey bees and the effect of high environmental temperatures on individuals. In this study, we registered temperatures in the brood area of strong-and medium-populated colonies of Africanized honey bees during heatwaves (maximum environmental temperature 44°C) between April and May in the tropical Yucatán Peninsula of México. To evaluate the effect on colonies, we compared the body size of workers produced under high temperatures in the field and siblings produced at stable 34-35°C laboratory conditions. We found that in the field, temperatures of the brood nest in both types of colony can increase above 36°C during the hottest part of the day, especially in less strong colonies. Workers produced in the field were significantly smaller, compared to those reared in the lab at stable temperatures. This is a first study reporting body size reduction in honey bees as a consequence of possible thermoregulation disruption during heatwaves. We discuss our results considering potential effects of heat stress to Africanized honey bee colonies and tropical beekeeping.

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Phenotypic correlations of field and laboratory tests with honey production in Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Cited by 7 publications

References 31 publications

Genetic parameters for five traits in Africanized honeybees using Bayesian inference

Genetic parameters for five traits in Africanized honeybees using Bayesian inference

A SNP test to identify Africanized honeybees via proportion of ‘African’ ancestry

Intranidal temperature and body size of Africanized honey bees under heatwaves (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

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