Hygienic behavior of Africanized honeybees (Apis mellífera scutellata Lepeletier) in apiaries of Lara state, Venezuela

The hygienic behavior of Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier) was evaluated in apiaries of three localities of Lara state, Venezuela. Eighty two honeybee colonies in similar management conditions were selected. Hygienic behavior was evaluated using the freezing dead pupae technique with an arbitrary scale specially established for this subspecies. The highest removing of dead pupae was registered in El Corozo locality, with values higher than 95%. The hygienic behavior had a great variation in the Africanized honeybee colonies considered, as 17, 24, and 59% of the honeybee colonies had a low, moderate, and high hygienic behavior, respectively.