DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD TO EVALUATE THE HYGIENIC BEHAVIOR OF THE BEE Frieseomelitta varia (YELLOW MARMALADE)

Abstract

Hygienic behavior in bees describes the process of identifying, eliminating and cleaning cells containing sick or dead brood, and is used as a criterion for selecting healthy colonies. However, the methodology used for honeybees cannot be considered for stingless bee species that build nests in clusters. This study aimed to propose a new methodology to evaluate hygienic behavior in Frieseomelitta varia and to test its efficiency according to hive size, respecting the nest's particular structure. The experiment used a completely randomized design with 2 treatments (large and small beehive) and 3 replicates. The proposed methodology consisted of separating 100 brood cells (50 in the larval stage and 50 in the pupal stage) and counting the cerumen cords. Then, the cells were distributed on a rectangular paper surface and pierced with an entomological pin. Three observation periods were carried out with 24-hour intervals for 10 consecutive days. The variables evaluated were: removal of young brood, removal of mature brood and total removal of brood cells according to the size of the box. Frieseomelitta varia bees show hygienic behavior, with total removal within 192 hours. It is recommended to use the methodology to evaluate hygienic behavior in the species, with a swarm considered to show high hygienic behavior if it achieves 80% removal of dead brood within 72 hours.