Control agents on the quality of Africanized honeybee queens

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, used in large field crops, and of the pomegranate Punica granatum aqueous extract, with insecticidal potential for insect control, on the quality of Africanized Apis mellifera queens. The control sample was composed of sterile distilled water with Tween®. The treatments were incorporated into a voile fabric, covered with an acrylic plate and packed with queen rearing nucleus hive, so the worker bees could be in contact with control agents (B. bassiana and P. granatum). In the next day, frames with 30 cell cups for queen rearing with larvae were introduced to produce queens, which were monitored at moment of emergency. Measurements included live weight, wing size, abdomen size, thorax size, the time of emergence, and analysis of the breeding area size. Histological analyses of the hypopharyngeal glands of attendant worker bees and of the midgut of virgin queens were performed. There was no reduction in the weight of queens, no changes in the length, width, and height of their thoraxes, no changes in the width and length of the wing, and no changes in total length. However, B. bassiana increased the weight of the queens and reduced emergency time. The control agents did not interfere in villi height and breeding area. No differences were found in tissues when the treatments were compared with their control. P. granatum extract and the fungus B. bassiana did not interfere in the quality of Africanized A. mellifera queens.

Keywords

• Apis mellifera. Selectivity. Non-target organism
• Entomopathogenic fungus
• Plant extract.