Review of tests used in honey bee selection (Apis mellifera L.)

Bekić, Bojana and Mladenović, Mića and Mačukanović Jocić, Marina (2015) Review of tests used in honey bee selection (Apis mellifera L.). In: The International Symposium on Animal Science (ISAS) 2015 - 19th International Congress on Biotechnology in Animal Reproduction (ICBAR), 09-11.09.2015, Novi Sad. Poljoprivredni fakultet, Novi Sad, pp. 280-286. ISBN 978-86-7520-348-3

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Abstract

Modern beekeeping is very interested in improving honey bee traits, especially bees’ resistance to diseases and their production capacity. Honey and comb productivity can be increased by making detailed plans and selection programs in which good genetic material is the key factor for creating highly productive bee colonies in favorable environmental conditions. In order to choose the preferred characteristics for the purpose of selection, queen bee traits should be carefully analyzed, because she transfers them to her descendants. Selection programs should include genotypes with good production characteristics, but also those with a higher disease resistance and lower swarming tendency and lower aggression. Measuring and evaluating these traits require high accuracy, and the collected data must be processed by appropriate statistical methods. This paper aims to demonstrate the basic principles of honey bee traits inheritance as well as to present an overview of the tests used in their selection such as: test for hygienic behavior, test for the determination of brood quality, test for the determination of bees’ level of aggression, test for the determination of swarming tendency and test for the determination of honey production. The implementation of all these tests is a necessary prerequisite for successful honey bee selection, as the results provide information about individual differences among bee colonies in the apiary, which is then used for choosing the best colonies which will be taken for further selection programs.

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