Abstract
Heritability of honey bee, Apis mellifera L., worker uncapping and removing behavior, and genetic correlation between these two traits, were estimated from variance components of half-sib families. Uncapping and removing of freeze-killed brood by newly emerged workers in cages was measured for the worker progeny of 69 free-mated queens that were the daughters of 8 queens. Based on individual phenotypic differences, heritability of the uncapping and removing behaviors from this population was estimated to be 0.144 ± 0.017 and 0.022 ± 0.004, respectively. These estimates indicate that selection for improved hygienic behavior is possible, although difficult. These heritability estimates were based in part on estimates of 30 and 90 workers involved in the uncapping and removing behavior, respectively, from observations of cages with marked bees. Because the estimate of 90 workers removing might be high, the heritability estimate of removing behavior is probably low. Genetic correlation between the two behaviors for this population was estimated to be 0.215 ± 0.157, indicating that these two traits have some common genetic elements.
Published Version
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