Abstract

ESQUIVEL ROJAS, Samir et al. Bee selection ( Apis mellifera L ) with low defensiveness and its relationship with the environment in Jalisco, Mexico. Abanico vet [online]. 2015, vol.5, n.1, pp.44-50. ISSN 2448-6132.

Apiculture has great economic importance in Mexico; therefore, it occupies the 3rd place as honey exporter and the 6th place as producer. The development of the beekeeping activity in Jalisco faces several problems, specially, the high defensiveness in bees derived from africanization, this has been affecting beekeepers in the handling of the colonies and provoking accidents with bee stings to people and animals, for that reason the objective of this investigation was to select colonies with low defensiveness behavior for their future reproduction in order to facilitate the handling by beekeepers and revert the social reject situation towards apiculturists producers. Defensive behavior tests were made with a suede flag to determine the defensive response from the colonies by the number of stings left on this flag. Additionally to know the answer of bees to other factors, environmental geographic data and the strength of the colonies were recorded and related to defensiveness. Low statistical correlation between the strength and environmental geographic parameters with defensiveness of bees was found, therefore it is inferred that there is no influence within this factors and defensive behavior. 206 colonies of a total of 283 (72.7 %) were chosen that fulfilled the requirements to start with an improvement scheme, which may indicate that the genetic pool present in this zone contains valuable material to initiate an effective selection program to have in the future colonies with low defensiveness behavior.

Keywords : Genetic improvement; africanization; defensiveness.

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