Abstract

MEDINA-FLORES, Carlos Aurelio; MEDINA MEDINA, Luis Abdelmir  and  GUZMAN-NOVOA, Ernesto. Effect of hygienic behavior on resistance to chalkbrood disease (Ascosphaera apis) in Africanized bee colonies (Apis mellifera). Rev. mex. de cienc. pecuarias [online]. 2022, vol.13, n.1, pp.225-239.  Epub June 06, 2022. ISSN 2448-6698.  https://doi.org/10.22319/rmcp.v13i1.5907.

The objective was to evaluate the hygienic behavior (HB) of Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera) and its impact on resistance to ascospherosis caused by Ascosphaera apis. The HB and the population of adult bees and brood of 50 colonies were evaluated. In addition, colonies with high (>95 %) and low (<50 %) HB were inoculated with A. apis and in them, the number of broods with signs of ascospherosis (mummies) was determined for 17 days, data that correlated with their degree of HB. The susceptibility to A. apis of larvae from colonies with high and low HB in a common environment was also evaluated to separate environmental from genotypic effects. The degree of HB between colonies varied significantly (CV>36 %), with 20 % of the colonies showing high HB (≥95 %) and this did not correlate with the population of adult bees and brood. Colonies with high HB had significantly fewer mummies than colonies with low HB and there was a negative correlation between HB and number of mummies (r= -0.63, P= 0.02). In addition, larvae from colonies with high or low HB were equally susceptible to the fungus. These results suggest that HB and larval susceptibility are not associated and that the main protection mechanism against A. apis in Africanized bee populations is HB. Therefore, the selection of colonies with high hygienic behavior could contribute to improving the health and productivity of honeybees.

Keywords : Apis mellifera; Ascosphaera apis; Hygienic behavior; Larval susceptibility; Africanized bees; Yucatán.

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