Influence of Pollen on the Development of Africanized Bee Colonies (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Anna Frida Hatsue Modro,Luis Carlos Marchini,Augusta Carolina De Camargo Carmello Moreti,Emanuel Maia

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v59i2.602

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the importance of quality and quantity of pollen on the development of colonies in different seasons. The field experiment was conducted at the Apiary of the Department of Entomology and Acarology of Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, using five beehives of A. mellifera. In order to characterize the quality of pollen, researchers considered measures of total dry mass (g) and the physical-chemical and pollen composition of pollen load and bee bread samples. The development of hives was assessed according to the area covered by pollen, honey, and brood population in the hive (cm²), as well as fluctuating asymmetry of worker bee wings. Spearman’s correlation was calculated among the assessed parameters. The value of ether extract of pollen loads was the only component that was related to the development of hives, its value increased as the area occupied by pollen in the hive decreased (-0.3200*), and as the difference of the number of hamuli of right and left hind wings increased (0.3317*). There was a positive relationship between the wealth (0.3150*) and evenness (0.3019*) of pollen composition and the size of brood population inside the hive. It was concluded that the development of the colony, mainly considering the area occupied by brood, is more successful with increased quantity, wealth, and evenness of collected pollen.

Highlights

Pollen is removed from the anthers of flowers and carried by the forager bees to the hive inside their corbicula or pollen baskets, located on the hind legs of the workers
Honey Pollen beginning of field assessments, one can observe a marked reduction in occupied area inside the hive
The occupation of a larger area with pollen in the summer associated with the availability of trophic resources are perhaps two of the factors responsible for increased area of brood and honey in the fall, based on a study conducted by Al-Tikrity et al (1972)

Summary

Introduction

Pollen is removed from the anthers of flowers and carried by the forager bees to the hive inside their corbicula or pollen baskets, located on the hind legs of the workers. Pollen loads, retained by collectors installed at the entrance of the hive or stored in honeycomb cells (bee bread), indicate period of production and botanical and geographical origins of the product (Vanderhuck 1995, Marques-Souza 1996, Carvalho et al 1999). It is known that the amount and composition of pollen can change the behavior of adult bees, fecundity, life span of bees, the size of the brood stock and honey, colony population, the development of bees, and larval food quality (Waller et al 1981, Schmidt et al 1987, Sagili et al 2005, Toth et al 2005, Hoover et al 2006, Mattila & Otis 2007, Human et al 2007). It is noteworthy that Ioirich (1986) mentions that, in periods of protein resource shortage, and with no other source of protein, the colony may be extinct

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