<b>Morphometric measurements of Africanized honeybee queens kept in an incubator or in queen banking

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This study aimed to estimate live weight, the length and the width of wing and abdomen and the length, the width and the height of thorax in newly emerged Africanized honeybee queens up to 192 hours and their influence on final quality regarding appropriate storage techniques in queen banking or incubator and to verify the possibility of using these parameters as selection criteria in honeybee breeding programs. Queen honeybees were produced in summer, autumn and winter. The queen production method used throughout the experiments was adapted from Doolittle, and 68 the queens were weighed at emergence. Data were analyzed in R software by regression analysis of queen weight at emergence according to life time after emergence, in two types of storage. The weight of queens emerged in queen banking and incubator was significantly different (p < 0.05), with mean values of 165.61 and 157.04 mg, respectively. Queens kept in an incubator and in queen banking showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) in wing length, abdomen length and thorax height. The weight of queen at emergence can be used as a selection criterion in honeybee breeding programs.Keywords: queen size, emergence, honeybee breeding, queen production.Medidas morfométricas de rainhas africanizadas mantidas em estufa ou colmeia banco de rainhas RESUMO. O objetivo do trabalho foi estimar peso vivo, comprimento e largura de asa e abdome e comprimento, largura e altura do tórax de rainhas Apis mellifera africanizadas recém-emergidas até 192h e sua influência na qualidade final com relação às técnicas apropriadas de armazenamento em banco de rainhas ou estufa e verificar se estes parâmetros podem ser utilizados como critério de seleção. Foram produzidas nas seguintes estações do ano: verão, outono e inverno. O método utilizado durante todo o experimento foi o adaptado de Doolitlle para a produção de rainhas e 68 rainhas foram pesadas à emersão. Os dados foram analisados no software R pela análise de regressão do peso da rainha à emergência em função do tempo de vida após a emersão, nos dois tipos de alojamento. Para peso, os efeitos da colmeia banco de rainhas e estufa foram significativos (p < 0,05), médias de 165,61 e 157,04 mg, respectivamente. As rainhas mantidas em estufa e colmeia banco de rainhas não apresentaram diferenças em relação ao comprimento da asa, ao comprimento do abdome e à altura do tórax. O peso de rainhas à emergência mantidas em colmeia banco de rainhas foi maior que o peso das rainhas mantidas em estufa. O peso das rainhas à emergência pode ser utilizado como critério de seleção.Palavras-chave: tamanho de rainhas, emersão, melhoramento de abelhas, produção de rainhas.

Royal jelly production with queens produced by single and double grafting in Africanized honeybee colonies

“…However, there was no difference (p < 0.05) for the genetic group interaction and the queen production method. The values of weight at emergence found in this study were higher than those found by Metorima, Costa-Maia, Halak, Parpinelli, and Toledo (2015). Regarding the method of production, the double grafting method generated queens, on average, 2.38% heavier when compared to single grafting queens.…”

“…Grafting method Genetic x grafting method Weight at emergence (mg) Lineage selected for honey production (n = 152) (185.30 ± 17.43)ª Lineage selected for royal jelly production (n = 221) (Metorima et al, 2015) 165.61 Queens born in BOD (Metorima et al, 2015) 157.04…”

Control agents on the quality of Africanized honeybee queens

“…The thorax length was also higher in queens from the treatments with B. bassiana and P. granatum. In our study, the thorax length ranged from 4.1 to 4.6 mm, the width varied between 4.4 and 4.6 mm, and the height ranged from 4.6 to 4.9 mm; these values are similar to those found in other studies (Tarpy, Hatch, & Fletcher, 2000;Metorima, Costa-Maia, Halak, Parpinelli, & Toledo, 2015).…”

“…The abdomen length of virgin queens normally presents variations from 9.4 to 11 mm (Faquinello et al, 2011;Metorima et al, 2015) and the width has an average variation of 4.6 mm (Faquinello et al, 2011). In our research, the abdomen length of queens when fed by workers in contact with the control agents ranged from 10.5 to 10.8 mm and width ranged from 4.8 to 5.0 mm; this was within or above the average observed in previous research.…”

Breeding Program Design Principles for Royal Jelly

“…However, studies using these methods have not been conducted for the royal jelly production in honeybees until not long ago [10,11]. Metorima et al [61] recommend this method for data without restriction of this nature, and it should be used as a tool in obtaining more accurate estimates for research in honeybees.…”