Comparison of post-capping period in different subspecies of honey bee

摘要

In honey bee development the post-capping period (PCP) affects the number of mature Varroa destructor females that leave the brood cell together with the emerging worker bee (11, 12). Consequently, it also influences the pace of the parasite's development. Individual subspecies of European bees differ from one another in terms of the PCP duration (3, 6, 7). The shortest PCP, that is about 10-11 days long, is observed in the Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) (8-10). As duration of bee development isa highly heritable trait (8, 16, 22), researchers made an attempt at breeding bees with a short PCP (15,23,24). They crossbred the Apis mellifera carnica bees which have the wide strange of PCP duration of all European bees and hence also the highest selection differential (5). This subspecies is extremely popular among European beekeepers because of its valuable production traits (1).