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Browsing by Author "Ndiaye, Ndoumbe"

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  • Analysis of Iberian honey bee (Apis mellifera iberiensis) colony phenotypes across two different origins in Portugal: searching for evidence of genotype by environment interactions
    Publication . Ndiaye, Ndoumbe; Pinto, M. Alice; Neves, Cátia José Domingues das; Debbagh, Souad
    Apis mellifera iberiensis is a honey bee subspecies native to the Iberian Peninsula. Its adaptive potential allows the development of several phenotypes depending on the environment. The aim of this study is to understand to what extent there is local adaptation in this subspecies of Iberian Peninsula, which has proved to be highly diverse and complex at the genetic level. To this end, we established two experimental apiaries at the latitudinal extremes of Portugal (Gimonde, in the Northeast, and Zavial, in the Southwestern). Three (Bragança, Algarve and Basque Country) and two (Algarve, Bragança) different genetic origins of the Iberian honey bee, represented by 18 colonies each, were deployed in the apiary of Gimonde and Zavial, respectively. The data from this study was collected between October of 2015 and May of 2017. During this period, the colonies were evaluated for the following parameters: varroa infestation level (measured by the sugar test), hygienic behavior (measured by the pin test), colony strength (measured by the weight and the Lieberfeld method for adult bees, brood, and food resources), honey yield and survivorship. The results of the varroa infestation level suggest that (1) the apiary location has a main role on the varroa’s infestation level; (2) there is no difference in varroa incidence between local and non-local colonies The results of the hygienic behavior indicate that (1) the variation in the hygienic behavior in each evaluation may result from different proportions of workers with hygienic behavior (between 15-17 days of age) in the colony; (2) there are origins with better hygienic behavior than others. The latter supports the results of the varroa infestation level, although further research is needed to confirm this trend. The colony strenght suggests that (1) within the Iberian honey bee variation, local honey bees are not better adapted than the non local. However these results may have been influenced by the high level of varroa infestation that some origins showed in a given period of time. Nevertheless, a higher survivorship of the local origin compared to the non-local ones was detected suggesting local adaptation. These finding improve our knowledge on the adaptive process of the Iberian honey bee. They suggest also the preservation of local honey bees which is more sustainable (higher survivorship) for beekeeping and promote the elaboration of appropriate management plans.
    2017Master thesis Open access Show more