Go East for better honey bee health : Apis cerana is faster at hygienic behavior than A. mellifera
dc.contributor.author | Lin, Zheguang | |
dc.contributor.author | Page, Paul | |
dc.contributor.author | Li, Li | |
dc.contributor.author | Qin, Yao | |
dc.contributor.author | Zhang, Yingying | |
dc.contributor.author | Hu, Fuliang | |
dc.contributor.author | Neumann, Peter | |
dc.contributor.author | Zheng, Huoqing | |
dc.contributor.author | Dietemann, Vincent | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2016-10-26T12:30:24Z | |
dc.date.available | 2016-10-26T12:30:24Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2016-09-08 | |
dc.description.abstract | The poor health status of the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, compared to its Eastern counterpart, Apis cerana, is remarkable. This has been attributed to lower pathogen prevalence in A. cerana colonies and to their ability to survive infestations with the ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor. These properties have been linked to an enhanced removal of dead or unhealthy immature bees by adult workers in this species. Although such hygienic behavior is known to contribute to honey bee colony health, comparative data of A. mellifera and A. cerana in performing this task are scarce. Here, we compare for the first time the removal of freeze-killed brood in one population of each species and over two seasons in China. Our results show that A. cerana was significantly faster than A. mellifera at both opening cell caps and removing freeze-killed brood. The fast detection and removal of diseased brood is likely to limit the proliferation of pathogenic agents. Given our results can be generalized to the species level, a rapid hygienic response could contribute to the better health of A. cerana. Promoting the fast detection and removal of worker brood through adapted breeding programs could further improve the social immunity of A. mellifera colonies and contribute to a better health status of the Western honey bee worldwide. | en_ZA |
dc.description.department | Zoology and Entomology | en_ZA |
dc.description.librarian | am2016 | en_ZA |
dc.description.sponsorship | Modern Agroindustry Technology Research System (No. CARS- 45) and Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province, China (No. 2012C12906-19) to F. H., by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities to H.Z., by a Swiss National Science Foundation grant (No. 31003A_147363) to V. D. and P.N. and by the Vinetum Foundation to P.N. | en_ZA |
dc.description.uri | http://www.plosone.org | en_ZA |
dc.identifier.citation | Lin, ZG, Page, P, Li, L, Qin, Y, Zhang, YY, Hu, FL, Neumann, P, Zheng, HQ & Dietemann, V (2016) Go East for Better Honey Bee Health: Apis cerana Is Faster at Hygienic Behavior than A. mellifera. PLoS ONE 11(9): e0162647. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162647. | en_ZA |
dc.identifier.issn | 1932-6203 | |
dc.identifier.other | 10.1371/journal.pone.0162647 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/57467 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
dc.publisher | Public Library of Science | en_ZA |
dc.rights | © 2016 Lin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Apis cerana | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Western honey bee | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Health status | en_ZA |
dc.subject | China | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Honeybee (Apis mellifera) | en_ZA |
dc.title | Go East for better honey bee health : Apis cerana is faster at hygienic behavior than A. mellifera | en_ZA |
dc.type | Article | en_ZA |