Content of Crude Protein in the Body and Total Protein and Lysozyme in the Haemolymph of Worker Bees (Apis mellifera L.) according to their infestation with Varroa destructor

Svilen Lazarov, Ivanka Zhelyazkova

Abstract: The percentage of infectivity with Varroa destructor of 13 bee colonies has been identified and two groups have been formed - bee colonies with infestations of up to 5% (low level of infestation) and bee colonies with infestation between 5 and 20% (medium level of infestation). Content of crude protein in the body of whole bees as well as total protein and lysozyme in the haemolymph of worker bees from colonies with different level of infestation has been determined. Higher and statistically reliable values (p ≤ 0.01) for crude protein content in bee bodies (62.04 ± 1.60%) in bee colonies with an average degree of infestation (5–20%) have been established. In the low infested colonies (up to 5%) the level of this indicator has lower value (55.26 ± 1.17%). The mean values for the total protein content in the haemolymph of worker bees in the group of medium infested bee colonies is 17.50 ± 1.23 g/l, which is 2.17 g/l less than the level of this indicator in the low infested bee colonies (19.67 ± 4.59 g/l). The lysozyme content of the haemolymph of bees from bee colonies with medium level of infestation has medium value (16.1 ± 3.42 μg/ml), which is 1.13 μg/ml less than its value in the low infested bee colonies (17.30 ± 3.15 μg/ml). The reported differences for total protein and lysozyme content in the haemolymph of bees from both groups are statistically unproven. The results from this study show that the level of infestation of bee colonies with Varroa destructor affects the crude protein content in the body of worker bees.

Keywords: Haemolymph; Honey bee; Lysozyme; Proteins; Varroa destructor

Date published: 2019-06-26