Study of the defensive behavior of Iraqi honeybee’s colonies (order: hymenoptera) in Basra province – Iraq

Abstract

The study was carried out in three areas of Basra Province to evaluate the aggression of the   Iraqi honey bee Apis mellifera L. using three types of stimuli to represent the natural defensive behavior of bees, Response degrees were measured due to Stort’s technique. results showed the aggressiveness of honey bees in Al-Jubayla region, with a significant difference from that of Garmat  Ali, the stinging time of the leather ball reached 1.300 min, the number of stings in the glove was 4.499, and the return to normal time was 17.797 min. The aggressiveness of honey bees in the Garmat  Ali region was significantly different from that of Shatt al-Arab the ball sting time was 2.107 min, the number of stings in the glove was 2.777 and the return to normal time was 6.79 min. While the aggressive of honey bees in Shatt al-Arab region was quiet, the significant difference was negative in the Al-Jubyla and Garmat Ali region, as the average time to sting the leather ball reached 5.325 min., the average number of stings in the glove was 2.111 and the average normal return time was 12.442 min. The mean values of the number of stings in each glove and the leather ball for the three regions were 2.133 stings. The degree of aggression of the studied colony is quiet, frictionless, which is a good quality for breeding. This study is considered the first of its kind in Iraq.