The activity of invertase, glucose oxidase and amylase in the cephalic (post‐cerebral) and thoracic salivary glands is determined in Egyptian and Carniolan honeybees (Apis mellifera L). For this purpose, three ages of worker bees are selected for enzyme assays. The results show that the three target enzymes are detected in the two glands during the three worker ages, except invertase, which cannot be detected in the cephalic gland of newly emerged bees of both subspecies. In both glands, the secretion of invertase is highest, followed by amylase and then glucose oxidase. In Carniolan bees, invertase secretion of the cephalic and thoracic glands increases gradually with age. In Egyptian bees, invertase increases with age only in the cephalic gland, whereas, in the thoracic gland, the highest secretion activity is detected in 10–15‐day‐old bees. The highest amounts of glucose oxidase and amylase in the cephalic gland are detected in newly emerged individuals of both Egyptian and Carniolan bees. In the thoracic gland, however, the highest activity of both enzymes is recorded only in newly emerged Egyptian bees. The results are discussed in the light of bee management and biological aspects of the two subspecies.
In this study, the activity of invertase, glucose oxidase and diastase enzymes in hypopharengeal gland were determined for Egyptian and Carniolan honeybees. Three colonies were chosen randomly from the population of each race for assaying the enzymes activity on three ages of worker bees: Newly emerged, 10-15 day old and foragers. The results show that the hypopharengeal gland expressed the three enzymes in different quantities in the three ages except invertase which could not be detected in newly emereged bees of Carniolan race. Generally, diastase is significantly more secreted than invertase and glucose oxidase, and the secretion of newly emerged bees is significantly less pronounced than in nurse and foraging age. The significant differences between the two races were obviously expressed in foragers for invertase and diastase enzyme, and in nurse bees for glucose oxidase in favor of Carniolan race, whereas the difference was significantly higher in newly emerged bees for Diastase and invertase in Egyptian bees. This result establishes different views of the secretion trend of the three enzymes in the two honeybee races, which may considered as racespecific characteristic.
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