Contribution to the Study of Hygienic Behavior and honey production of the Honeybee Apis mellifera intermissa in a mountainous region of Algeria

In the honeybee, Apis mellifera, hygienic behavior is defined as the ability of bees to detect and remove diseased larvae and pupae from the brood nest before the pathogen spreads throughout the colony. This is one of the key mechanisms of resistance to foulbrood and fungal diseases. The aim of our study is to investigate the hygienic behavior and honey production of Apis mellifera intermissa in a mountainous region of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria, using the freezing test. To achieve this, 20 populous colonies with naturally mated queens of the same age (2 years) were used. Rectangles in sealed brood frames were cut out and then frozen for 24 hours. We quantified the removal of brood killed by freezing in sealed cells after 24 hours and then after 48 hours, as well as the honey production. The studied colonies ranged from less hygienic (4 colonies), with 68.33% of brood removed at 24 hours and 93.45% at 48 hours, to fully hygienic (14 colonies), with 100% of larvae removed within 48 hours, including 4 colonies that cleaned all cells within 24 hours. Furthermore, colonies of bees exhibiting hygienic behavior, known as "hygienic bees," produced more honey than non-hygienic colonies, yielding an additional 3 kg of honey per hive. Thus, it appears that the Apis mellifera intermissa bee subspecies is hygienic and may develop strong resistance to diseases.