Increased brood viability and longer lifespan of honeybees selected for propolis production Daniel NICODEMO 1 , Euclides Braga MALHEIROS 2 , David DE JONG 3 , Regina Helena Nogueira COUTO 4 1 Campus de Dracena, Curso de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Dracena, SP, Brazil 2 Departamento de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil 3 Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil 4 Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil Received 7 June 2013 – Revised 4 September 2013 – Accepted 3 October 2013 Abstract – Propolis has been proposed to affect honeybee health. To test this hypothesis, we initially evaluated propolis production in 36 honeybee colonies. The three highest (HP) and three lowest propolis-producing (LP) colonies had mean yields of 16.0 and 0.64 g, respectively. Queens and drones from these parental colonies were crossed by artificial insemination to produce five colonies each of the following crosses: HP♀×HP♂, HP♀ × LP♂, LP♀×HP♂, and LP♀×LP♂. Colonies headed by HP♀×HP♂ queens produced 34 times more propolis than those headed by LP♀ ×LP♂ queens and five times more than those from the other two crosses. Newly emerged bees were marked to measure longevity, and egg and brood counts were made to determine brood survival rates. The colonies with queens derived from crosses between high-propolis-producing colonies had significantly higher brood viability and greater worker bee longevity. We conclude that colonies that collect more propolis are healthier and have longer-living bees. controlled mating / propolis / brood viability / longevity 1. INTRODUCTION Propolis is a product of honeybee colonies that, because of its therapeutic properties, has been widely used in human medicine (Marcucci 1995; Sforcin and Bankova 2011). Because propolis is not normally stored in large quantities in the colony, as is honey, beekeepers induce its produc- tion to obtain quantities that permit its commercial- ization. Propolis productivity can vary from 300 up to 1,450 g/hive/year, if production techniques are implemented (Prost-Jean 1985; Breyer 1995; Inoue et al. 2007). Manrique and Soares (2002) have reported that propolis production and honey production are positively correlated. It is also known that greater availability of food positively affects the longevity of bees (Kulincevic et al. 1982; Weiss 1984; Graham 1997). To increase the production of bee products, it is necessary to understand the factors that influence yield. We know, for instance, that colony produc- tivity is greatly affected by its health. Brood viability is also affected by colony size, which in turn affects the capacity of the bees to maintain optimal temperature and humidity conditions in the brood nest (Sakagami and Fukuda 1968; Garófalo 1977). Worker longevity is also affected by climatic conditions, availability of pollen and nectar, the adult bee population and brood area (Malone et al. 1995), infestation by Varroa Corresponding author: D. De Jong, ddjong@fmrp.usp.br Manuscipt editor: Peter Rosenkranz Apidologie Original article * INRA, DIB and Springer-Verlag France, 2013 DOI: 10.1007/s13592-013-0249-y