1Department of Entomology, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan173230, Himachal Pradesh, India
2Department of Vegetable Science, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan173230, Himachal Pradesh, India
*Email: sawrajsingh62@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Studies on the impact of varied hive volume on brood infections and its correlation with weather parameters in Apis mellifera L. were conducted during 2020 and 2021. The incidence of brood diseases, including European foulbrood disease (EFB) caused by the bacterium Melissococcus pluton and Sac brood viral disease (SBV) caused by Morator aetatulas, were recorded and it was observed that A mellifera showed considerably different prevalences of EFB and SBV in different hive volumes. The incidence of M. pluton ranged from 0.00 to 4.86 % whereas, SBV incidence ranged from 0.00 to 2.19% during the study period. EFB incidence was highest in the 42 L Langstroth hive (2.58%) and lowest in the 33 L 8-frame hive (0.84%), while SBV occurred only in the 42 L hive (1.08%) and was absent in the 8-frame hive. The 8-frame hives (33 L) exhibited the lowest incidence, emphasising the importance of optimising hive dimensions for disease resistance.
Apiculture, Apis mellifera, brood diseases, colony strength, European foulbrood, hive size, honey bee, honey, Langstroth, pollinator
