Correlation between honey production and some morphological traits in africanized honey bees (Apis melifera)

Abstract

This study focused on the correlation between honey production length and width of the tibia of the third pair of legs, corbicular area, pupal weight, and glossal length, in Africanized honey bees in Viçosa/MG, Brazil. Correlation values were relatively low, though always positive. The traits glossal length and pupal weight presented the lowest correlation to honey production: 0.225 and 0.410, respectively. The highest correlations were observed between length of the tibia and corbicular area and honey production: 0.587 and 0.549, respectively. In all cases, except pupal weight, correlation was significant. These findings support the notion that worker bees with larger corbicular areas may have a better ability to carry larger quantities of pollen to their hives, so that it is possible to improve honey production through indirect selection of this trait.