Genet Mol Res. 2013 Dec 19;12(4):6931-8. doi: 10.4238/2013.December.19.12.
Honey
bee lines selected for high propolis production also have superior
hygienic behavior and increased honey and pollen stores.
Abstract
Honey
bees use propolis to defend against invaders and disease organisms. As
some colonies produce much more propolis than others, we investigated
whether propolis collecting is associated with disease resistance
traits, including hygienic behavior and resistance to the parasitic bee
mite, Varroa destructor. The three highest (HP) and three lowest
propolis-producing (LP) colonies among 36 Africanized honey bee colonies
were initially selected. Queens and drones from these colonies were
crossed through artificial insemination to produce five colonies of each
of the following crosses: HP♀ X HP♂, LP♀ X HP♂, HP♀ X LP♂, and LP♀ X
LP♂. Colonies headed by HP♀ X HP♂ queens produced significantly more
propolis than those with HP♀ X LP♂ and LP♀ X HP♂ queens and these in
turn produced significantly more propolis than those headed by LP♀ X LP♂
queens. The brood cell uncapping rate of the high-propolis-producing
colonies in the hygienic behavior test was significantly superior to
that of the other groups. The LP X LP group was significantly less
hygienic than the two HP X LP crosses, based on the evaluation of the
rate of removal of pin-killed pupae. The HP X HP colonies were
significantly more hygienic than the other crosses. No significant
differences were found in mite infestation rates among the groups of
colonies; although overall, colony infestation rates were quite low (1.0
to 3.2 mites per 100 brood cells), which could have masked such
effects. Honey and pollen stores were significantly and positively
correlated with propolis production.
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