Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2016, 8th- 10th June, Milan, Italy 

HAF © 2013 

Vol. III, No. 1s  ISSN: 2283-3927 

   

 

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Keywords 

Honeybee, hygienic behaviour, 

genetic selection 

 

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR 

Elena Facchini 

elena.facchini@unimi.it 

 

JOURNAL HOME PAGE 

riviste.unimi.it/index.php/haf 

Hygienic behaviour in honeybee: a 

comparison of two in-field assays for 

phenotypic characterization. 

 

E. Facchinia*, M. Mortarinoa, F. Dell’Orcoa, R. Rizzia 

 

 

aDept. DiMeVet- Università degli Studi di Milano, via G. Celoria 10, 20133, 
Milano 

 

Abstract 

The Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, represents a relevant productive livestock due to both hive 

products and to its indispensable role as commercial pollinator of many agricultural crops. In addition, 

honeybees contribute to the pollination of wild flowers, thereby helping the maintenance of natural 

ecosystems and biodiversity. Recently, the number of managed honeybee colonies has declined in both 

North America and Europe. Beside environmental causes, e.g. the loss of forage as a consequence of 

agricultural intensification, another cause is the increasing relevance of pests and diseases affecting 

honeybee colonies. In the honeybee, hygienic behaviour (HB) is a heritable phenotype that confers to 

the colony resistance to foulbrood diseases, chalkbrood, and the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. Nurse 

bees manifesting HB are able to detect, uncap, and remove infested and/or parasitized pupae from the 

colony. The genetic and biochemical factors that drive the manifestation of this behaviour are under 

investigation. Therefore, the selection of such trait still relies on field assays. Heretofore, there are two 

main tests to measure HB: the Pin Killed Brood (PKB) test and the Freeze Killed Brood (FKB) test. 

Concerning the FKB test, a comparison between the standard FKB test and a variant of this method (E. 

Bonfanti) has been performed in order to optimize the methodology in terms of time, costs, feasibility 

and safety for the operator and to choose the best option for a subsequent large scale phenotypic 

characterization for genetic selection. 
 

References 

Büchler, R., Berg, S., Le Conte, Y., 2010. Breeding for resistance to Varroa destructor in Europe. Apidologie. 41, 393–408. 

Neumann, P., Carreck. N. L., 2010. Honey bee colony losses. Journal of Apicultural Research. 49, 1-6. 

Spivak, M., Downey, D. L., 1998. Field assays for hygienic behaviour in honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Journal of 

Economic Entomology. 91, 64-70. 

Spivak, M., Reuter, G. S., 1998. Honey bee hygienic behaviour. American Bee Journal. 138, 283. 

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