A HERITABILITY ESTIMATE OF HONEY BEE HOARDING BEHAVIOR

Abstract

The removal of sugar syrup from vials and storage in honey comb by caged honey bees is apparently an economically important trait. This hoarding behavior and honey production are significantly correlated phenotypically. The heritability of honey bee hoarding behavior was estimated from the variance components of half-sib families. Worker hoarding behavior was determined for 100 free-mated queens which were the daughters of 14 queens. Hoarding behavior heritability was estimated from this nested model to be 0.187 ± 0.029. This indicates that selection for increased hoarding behavior is possible, and, depending upon the genetic correlation, there may be a correlated response in honey production.