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

Pedro Rosa Santos,Tuan Henrique Smielevski De Souza,Diogo Francisco Rossoni,Vagner De Alencar Arnaut De Toledo

doi:10.4025/actascianimsci.v41i1.45670

Pedro Rosa Santos, Tuan Henrique Smielevski De Souza + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.4025/actascianimsci.v41i1.45670

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Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate royal jelly production from Africanized honeybee queens of different lineages (lineage selected for honey production, lineage selected for royal jelly production and unselected) produced by single and double grafting and to compare royal jelly production among their offspring. Data were tested by double factorial analysis of variance and the means were compared by Tukey test at 5%. The parameters evaluated were: queen weight at emergence, percentage of larvae acceptance in the upper and lower bars, royal jelly per cup (mg) and royal jelly per colony/collection (g). Queens selected for honey presented greater weight at emergence, while the unselected queens were the lightest. Double grafting was better than simple grafting, since the queens were born 2.38% heavier. There was no difference (p > 0.05) in relation to royal jelly production according to neither the lineage nor even comparing the method by which the queens were produced. The cost of labor to produce queens by double grafting was much higher, as by the simple grafting about 170% more queens were born. The potential of Africanized honeybees with adequate production management and favorable environmental conditions favors the production of royal jelly.

Highlights

To improve genetic parameters raising the quality of animal production, genetic selection and breeding become essential tools to achieve the goal
Nakasugui, Cantagalli, Toledo, and Ruvolo-Takasusuki (2013) observed that in order to establish a genetic breeding program with Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier, 1836) for royal jelly production, the polymorphism of MRJP proteins can be used as a molecular marker
Lineage selected for honey production (n = 152) Lineage selected for royal jelly production (n = 221) Unselected lineage (n = 172) Double grafting (n = 147) Single grafting (n = 398) Queens born in bank hives (Metorima et al, 2015) Queens born in BOD (Metorima et al, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

To improve genetic parameters raising the quality of animal production, genetic selection and breeding become essential tools to achieve the goal. Baitala, Nakasugui, Cantagalli, Toledo, and Ruvolo-Takasusuki (2013) observed that in order to establish a genetic breeding program with Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier, 1836) for royal jelly production, the polymorphism of MRJP proteins can be used as a molecular marker. Baitala et al (2010) found that selection of individuals for high royal jelly production can be performed using the loci mrjp, mrjp and mrjp, since the three loci produced 17 alleles, indicating high allelic polymorphism for the loci studied. Knowing the genetic resources of the selection candidates and using the tools of computer science help in this process (Khan, Matos, & Lima, 2009); it is not enough to have knowledge of the individuals, being necessary to know the environmental variables that can affect their performance. Among the methods used for genetic improvement, molecular markers are widely used to genetically map similarity between individuals. Stuchi, Toledo, Lopes, Cantagalli, and Ruvolo-Takasusuki (2014) used molecular markers to distinguish two species of Tetragonisca Moure, 1946 bees, demonstrating that EST-1, EST-2 and EST-3 are efficient markers for differentiating these species. Baitala, Nakasugui, Cantagalli, Toledo, and Ruvolo-Takasusuki (2013) observed that in order to establish a genetic breeding program with Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier, 1836) for royal jelly production, the polymorphism of MRJP proteins can be used as a molecular marker. Baitala et al (2010) found that selection of individuals for high royal jelly production can be performed using the loci mrjp, mrjp and mrjp, since the three loci produced 17 alleles, indicating high allelic polymorphism for the loci studied.

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