Influence of production of the apitoxin on the hygienic behavior and population development of the africanized Apis mellifera bees

Abstract

Among the products produced by honey bees, the bee venom (apitoxin) is of great importance due to their therapeutic properties. However, extracting the honey induces the bee swarm to release alarm pheromones, which can promote high stress levels and behavioral changes in the activities of the hive, such as in their hygienic behavior and its population development. The goals of this study are to evaluate the influence of venom collection on the hygienic behavior and population development of africanized Apis mellifera bees. The experiment will be conducted in the apiary of area of apiculture production of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences University, located at the Experimental Farm Lageado, UNESP, campus of Botucatu. 10 hives of Apis mellifera L. will be used, distributed in the following treatments: Treatment 1 (T1) - control, without venom collection and Treatment 2 (T2) - venom collection. The venom collection will always occur in the morning, starting at 9 a.m., lasting an hour, through an electrical collector for a period of nine months. In both treatments, the swarm's population development will be weekly evaluated by the counting of open and closed brood area, of a central frame. The hygienic behavior will be evaluated used the method of puncture of brood. For this, 100 sealed cells (10 by 10 rows) will be drilled with an entomological pin and the removal or not of the dead brood, assessed 24 hours later. The data analysis will be performed by ANOVA followed by Tukey's test to check for differences between the averages. It will be considered statistically different when P <0.05. (AU)