Caracterização fenotípica de colônias de abelhas africanizadas resistentes ou não a Nosema e Varroa destructor em apiários do Agreste e Zona da Mata de Pernambuco

Abstract

Bees in Brazilian beekeeping are predominantly hybrid, with little knowledge about the health of these bees, especially in the Northeast region of Brazil. As diseases and pests compromise the development of the colony, causing damages in the production, the objective of this work was to characterize colonies of Apis mellifera bees resistant or not to Nosema and Varroa destructor in the Agreste and Zona da Mata regions of Pernambuco. Samples were collected from sixty - three colonies for Nosema analysis and fifty - eight for analysis of Varroa destructor. The collected samples were preserved in 70% alcohol, to prevent the bees from perishing and to carry out the analyzes. In the results it was observed that 54% of the colonies did not present Nosema spores, 35% presented in the very light scale and 11% light. In the Varroa destructor analysis a mean of 3.44 ± 4.69 was observed. The analyzed colonies of Apis mellifera (Africanized) bees from the Zona da Mata and Agreste of Pernambuco are characterized as resistant to Nosema and Varroa destructor, presenting colonies with low infection rate and infestation.