Population dynamics of European honey bee genotypes under different environmental conditions (original) (raw)
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Journal of Apicultural Science
An international experiment to estimate the importance of genotype-environment interactions on vitality and performance of honey bees and on colony losses was run between July 2009 and March 2012. Altogether 621 bee colonies, involving 16 different genetic origins of European honey bees, were tested in 21 locations spread in 11 countries. The genetic strains belonged to the subspecies A. m. carnica, A. m. ligustica, A. m. macedonica, A. m. mellifera, A. m. siciliana. At each location, the local strain of bees was tested together with at least two “foreign” origins, with a minimum starting number of 10 colonies per origin. The common test protocol for all the colonies took into account colony survival, bee population in spring, summer and autumn, honey production, pollen collection, swarming, gentleness, hygienic behaviour, Varroa destructor infestation, Nosema spp.infection and viruses. Data collection was performed according to uniform methods. No chemical treatments against Varroa...
Journal of Apicultural Science, 2012
M a l g o r z a t a B i e n k o w s k a 4 * , M a r i a B o u g a 5 , D r a g a n B u b a l o 6 , L e o n i d a s C h a r i s t o s 7 , Y v e s Le Conte 8 * , M a j a D r a z i c 9 , W i n f r i e d D y r b a 1 0 1 5 * , P e r K r y g e r 1 6 * , M a r c o L o d e s a n i 1 , M a r i n a Meixner 2 , B e a t a P a n a s i u k 4 , H e r m a n n P e c h h a c k e r 1 7 * , P l a m e n P e t r o v 1 8 * , E u g e n i a O l i v e r i 1 9 , L a u r i R u o t t i n e n 1 5 , A l e k s a n d a r U z u n o v 1 3 * , G i a c o m o V a c c a r i 1 , J e r z Stars (*) indicate local coordinators per country or location. Authors after the first are listed in alphabetical order.
Journal of Apicultural Research, 2014
Diseases are known to be one of the major contributors to colony losses. Within a Europe-wide experiment on genotype -environment interactions, an initial 621 colonies were set up and maintained from 2009 to 2012. The colonies were monitored to investigate the occurrence and levels of key pathogens. These included the mite Varroa destructor (mites per 10 g bees), Nosema spp. (spore loads and species determination), and viruses (presence/absence of acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and deformed wing virus (DWV)). Data from 2010 to the spring of 2011 are analysed in relation to the parameters: genotype, environment, and origin (local vs. non-local) of the colonies in the experiment. The relative importance of different pathogens as indicators of colony death within the experiment is compared. In addition, pathogen occurrence rates across the geographic locations are described.
Apidologie, 2012
The aim of this study was to reveal the existence of locally adapted populations of Apis mellifera ligustica. To this end, the spring development and honey production of three sources of A. mellifera ligustica were compared in three Italian habitats differing in flora and climate, in order to investigate interactions between origin of the bees and test environment (GxE). The results from a total of 165 colonies showed significant GxE for the considered traits. Interestingly, for two of the considered origins, colonies produced most when kept in their region of origin. Honey production can be considered a measure of adaptation to environment as it reflects the ability of a colony to make the most profit of the plant nectar sources present in its surroundings. Thereby, this study shows that populations of locally adapted honeybees still exist in Italy, despite widespread use of commercially produced honeybee queens.
Apidologie, 2011
A population of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) surviving Varroa destructor mite infestation in Sweden for over 10 years without treatment, demonstrate that a balanced host-parasite relationship may evolve over time. Colony-level adaptive traits linked to Varroa tolerance were investigated in this population to identify possible characteristics that may be responsible for colony survival in spite of mite infestations. Brood removal rate, adult grooming rate, and the mite distribution between brood and adults were not significantly different in the untreated population compared with treated control colonies. However, colony size and the reproductive success of the mite were significantly reduced in surviving colonies compared with control colonies. Our data suggest that colony-level adaptive traits may limit mite population growth by reducing mite reproduction opportunities and also by suppressing the mite reproductive success.