Heritability of the postcapping stage in Apis mellifera and its relation to varroatosis resistance

Abstract

Two African races of the honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis and A. m. scutellata) have a significantly shorter postcapping stage of worker brood than A. m. camica. An average within-race heritability of this character is estimated as h² = 0.8. Reciprocal crosses between the races show that the duration of the postcapping stage also is maternally affected (m = 0.23). As the reproduction of the parasitic mite Varroa Jacobsoni is restricted in honey bees with a short postcapping stage, selection for this character may be useful in obtaining a varroatosis-reslstant strain of honey bees.