Seasonal variation in defense behavior in European and scutellata-hybrid honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Southern California.

ABSTRACT: Nest defense in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a complex collective behavior modulated by various interacting social, environmental, and genetic factors. Scutellata-hybrid ("Africanized") honey bees are usually considered to be far more defensive than European honey bees which are therefore preferred for commercial and hobbyist beekeeping. In the most recent zone of scutellata hybridization, the southern USA, the degree to which this defensiveness differs among current strains, and the extent to which defensiveness varies across a season has not been measured. We quantified the levels of A. m. scutellata ancestry in colonies and conducted a seasonal assessment (May through November) of colony nest defensiveness in feral scutellata-hybrid and a popular lineage of European honey bee commo

SUBMITTER: Zarate D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10406949 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature