A direct assay to assess self-grooming behavior in honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.)
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Original article
A direct assay to assess self-grooming behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) Nuria MORFIN1 , Laura G. ESPINOSA-MONTAÑO2 , Ernesto GUZMAN-NOVOA1 1
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada 2 Departamento de Medicina y Zootecnia de Abejas, FMVZ, UNAM. Cd. University, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico Received 15 June 2019 – Revised 5 March 2020 – Accepted 7 April 2020
Abstract – Grooming behavior confers resistance to honey bees against the mite Varroa destructor and thus is a mechanism of interest for studies of social immunity and breeding purposes. However, mites are not always available to conduct grooming assays and can introduce variability to the evaluations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the use of wheat flour as an irritant in a laboratory assay to assess self-grooming behavior in honey bees. Presumed Varroa -susceptible and Varroa- resistant genotypes were used to determine the time it took the bees to initiate grooming instances and the proportion of bees that responded when exposed to either flour or a Varroa mite. Flour elicited significantly faster grooming responses and with a higher proportion of individuals in both genotypes in comparison with V. destructor . Also, significant differences between both genotypes were observed. It is concluded that flour can be used as an irritant instead of V. destructor to evaluate self-grooming behavior in bees in the laboratory. honey bees / grooming behavior / varroa destructor / bioassay
1. INTRODUCTION Varroa destructor is the most damaging parasite of honey bees. It has been found to be associated with high rates of colony mortality (GuzmanNovoa et al. 2010; Le Conte et al. 2010). Honey bees have developed defense mechanisms against parasitic mites like V. destructor , including grooming behavior, which consists in the use of legs and mandibles, as well as abdomen shaking to attempt to remove mites from their bodies (Peng et al. 1987). Grooming behavior can restrain the growth of V. destructor populations in honey bee colonies (Arechavaleta-Velasco and Guzman-Novoa
Corresponding author: N. Morfin, [email protected] Manuscript editor: Yves Le Conte
2001). In fact, several studies have shown that certain bee genotypes such as the so-called Africanized bees (hybrids of Apis mellifera scutellata ) are more resistant than European bees to V. destructor , in part due to differences in grooming behavior (Moretto et al. 1993; Guzman-Novoa et al. 1999; Aumeier 2001; Invernizzi et al. 2015). Clearly, grooming behavior is a mechanism of interest for studies of social immunity and breeding purposes. However, the assessment of grooming behavior is challenging. Indirect methods of assessing this behavior are based on counting the number of fallen and mutilated mites on sticky papers placed on the bottom boards of hives (Ruttner and Hänel 1992). However, these methods do not solely measure the effects of grooming behavior. Mites can fall and show body mutilations
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