Enhancing honeybee breeding for sustainable agriculture through temperature and relative humidity monitoring
1 IRIS, Rue lac Victoria, immeuble ennassim, rue lac Victoria, 2ème étage. 105 Berge du lac 1.
2 Animal Genetic Resources and Feed Resources Research Lab. INAT-University of Carthage, 43 Avenue Charles Nicole, 1082 Mahrajène, Tunis.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 21(02), 286–292
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2024.21.2.0412
Publication history:
Received on 24 December 2023; revised on 03 February 2024; accepted on 05 February 2024
Abstract:
Through their vital role in pollination, honeybee colonies play a crucial part in sustaining biodiversity and ensuring global food security. This paper aims to: 1) assess temperature and relative humidity variations within the hive and at the brood level; 2) determine genetic parameters for these traits; and 3) predict Breeding Values (PBVs) for honeybee colonies. Temperature and relative humidity data, during the period 2020-2023, were collected in Northern Tunisia using sensors placed inside hives and at the brood level. A dataset comprising 214,128 records for temperature and relative humidity within hives, sourced from 317 devices, was used in this study. Additionally, 20,740 records for temperature and relative humidity obtained from 78 brood-level devices were incorporated into the analysis. Phenotypic and genetic parameters were computed for the four examined traits, and using a BLUP Animal model, colony breeding values (PBVs) were predicted. Main results indicated a highly significant influence (p<0.01) of the month effect on the four temperature and relative humidity traits. Heritability estimates for in-hive temperature, in-hive relative humidity, brood relative humidity, and brood temperature were 0.14, 0.12, 0.16, and 0.28, respectively. Positive correlations were observed between relative humidity inside hives and at the brood level, as well as between temperature within beehives and at the brood level. Colony breeding values were predicted to select the best adapted bee queens to enhance honeybee’s sustainable use under Southern Mediterranean climatic conditions.
Keywords:
Honeybees; Temperature; Relative Humidity; Selection
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Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0