Bee Health in Apiaries in the Paraíba Valley, São Paulo State, Southeast Brazil

Sociobiology

Marcos Vinícius G. Barbosa da Silva²  Maria Luisa Teles Marques Florêncio Alves³  Lubiane Guimarães Santos⁴  Dejair Message¹  Érica Weinstein Teixeira³  Fabio de Assis Pinto⁴ 

[1] Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido;EMBRAPA Gado de Leite;Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios;Universidade Federal de Viçosa

关键词: Apis mellifera;    Varroa destructor;    Nosema sp.;    Paenibacillus larvae.;   

DOI  :  

来源: Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Brazil

【 摘 要 】

Bee health is a growing global concern due to phenomena with as yet undefined causes, such as the sudden population decline of colonies that has been observed in apiaries in many countries, recently including Brazil. The main objective of this study was to assess the presence and/or prevalence of pathogens that afflict AfricanizedApis melliferabees in the Paraíba Valley region of São Paulo state, Brazil. Three sampling periods were established: period 1 – August and September 2009 (winter/start of spring); period 2 – December 2009 and January 2010 (summer); and period 3 – April and May 2010 (autumn). Different types of samples were collected from the brood chamber, besides foragers at the entrance of the hive, in order to evaluate the presence and prevalence ofPaenibacillus larvae, Varroa destructorandNosemasp. The results indicated that the intensity of infection byNosema ceranaeand infestation rates ofV. destructorin the hives are low, with no detection ofP. larvaespores in the samples analyzed. The prevalence ofN. ceranaeandV. destructorwas high, at respective values of 85.2 and 95.7%. These results demonstrate that although mites and microsporidia are widespread in the region’s colonies, the Africanized bees are apparently tolerant of these parasites. However, the mechanisms related to defense against pathogens are not completely clear and monitoring and prophylactic measures are essential to maintain the health of bee colonies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown