Genetic Correlations among Several Colony Characters in the Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Taking Queen and Worker Effects into Account

Abstract

In the honey bee, in which the castes depend upon one another, most colony traits may be composed of queen as well as worker effects. The contributions of these two castes were found to be heritable for several characters of economic value. If two colony traits are each composed of queen and worker effects, the genetic correlation between them is therefore composed of the genetic correlation between the queen (rQ12) and the worker effects (rw12), respectively, and the cross-correlation (rQW12) between the queen effects of trait 1 and the worker effects of trait 2 (and reverse). Genetic correlation between partial honey yields within years were estimated to be medium or, between spring and summer productivity, even negative. The genetic relationships between honey and wax production were high (rQ12 = 0.75, rW12 = 0.72) but with a negative cross-correlation (rQW12 = −0.86). Insignificant genetic correlations between honey production and aggressiveness were found (−0.06, 0.03, 0.11); the corresponding estimates between honey production and calmness during inspection were even positive (0.31, 0.36, −0.34). A selection index simultaneously improving queen and worker effects of several colony traits is proposed.