Hodges Honey Apiaries, Dunwoody, GA.
Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
J Econ Entomol. 2019 Mar 21;112(2):986-990. doi: 10.1093/jee/toy363.
Numerous papers have shown that propolis contributes favorably to worker honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) immune response and colony social immunity. Moreover, resin-foraging specialists are more sensitive than pollen foragers to tactile information in the nest interior, and they respond to these stimuli by collecting more resin. In this study, we show that in-hive propolis deposition is increased, compared with nonmodified controls, with any one of the three methods for increasing textural complexity of hive wall interior surfaces: 1) plastic propolis trap material stapled to wall interior, 2) parallel saw kerfs cut into wall interior, or 3) roughening wall interior with a mechanized wire brush. Pairwise comparisons showed that propolis deposition was not significantly different among the three textural treatments; however, textural treatments interacted with time to show a more consistent benefit from plastic propolis trap material or roughened interior surface over saw kerfs. Although direct health benefits were not measured, this work shows that it is comparatively simple to increase propolis deposition above background levels by increasing textural stimuli in hive interiors.
许多研究表明，蜂胶对工蜂（Apis mellifera L.）的免疫反应和群体社会免疫有积极作用。此外，与花粉采集者相比，树脂采集者对巢内的触觉信息更敏感，它们通过采集更多的树脂来对这些刺激做出反应。在这项研究中，我们发现与未经修饰的对照组相比，通过以下三种方法中的任何一种增加巢内墙壁表面纹理复杂性，都可以增加巢内蜂胶的沉积：1）将塑料蜂胶诱捕材料钉在墙壁内部，2）在墙壁内部平行切割锯痕，或 3）用机械钢丝刷使墙壁内部变粗糙。成对比较表明，蜂胶沉积在三种纹理处理之间没有显著差异；然而，纹理处理与时间相互作用，显示出与锯痕相比，塑料蜂胶诱捕材料或粗糙内部表面具有更一致的益处。虽然没有直接测量健康益处，但这项工作表明，通过增加蜂巢内部的纹理刺激，可以相对简单地将蜂胶沉积增加到背景水平以上。
