• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.206-211
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• 2021

Hygienic behavior of Honey bees, Apis mellifera, was evaluated by uncapping and removing ability of dead broods from the nest. Hygienic behavior is originated from quantitative traits, which are expected to express key roles in colony defense against mite parasites and bacterial and fungal diseases. It is regarded as one of important characteristics of honey bee's resistance to parasites and pathogens. In this study, five inbreed and two hybrid lines of A. mellifera, the former five inbreed lines, which have been reared for over eight years at the National Academy of Agricultural Science in Korea, and the latter two hybrid lines, which have been bred by crossing between the inbreed lines, were investigated on their hygienic behavior by a pin-killed brood assay at 12hrs and 24hrs after treatment. The results indicated that after 12hrs one inbred line was proved to be hygienic (removal rate of dead brood >90%), three inbred and two hybrid lines showed intermediate behavior, and one inbred line belonged to non-hygienic (removal rate of dead brood <70%). However, after 24hrs, only one line was considered to be intermediate as removal rate was below 90%, thus all except this line had shown hygienic behavior.