La selezione di Apis mellifera per la resistenza alle malattie batteriche dell’alveare

Abstract

The keeping of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, is a very important activity that improve the environmental quality near the hives. The role of bees in pollination of our colture and wild plants is well known, furthermore the honey trade in Europe has reached millions of value in euros. Unfortunately, even the bees aren’t immune against diseases by different etiological agents: viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi. In an European scenario where the use of antibiotic is strictly forbidden, the veterinarian role is to help beekepers in early diagnosis of the two main bacterial diseases of the bees: European foulbrood and American foulbrood, caused by Melissococcus plutonius and Paenibacillus larvae respectively. The veterinarian can also support the beekeeping not only in management and follow up in the apiary itself, but also in selection programs, specific for the improving of diseases resistance features of the bees. These features are the result of genetical, physiological, immunological, morphological characteristics of certain breeding lineage, often observed in natural selection. It’s important to improve the natural selection with these features, in reason of the best level in environmental adaptation and for protection of the local subspecies, against the well diffused commercial hybrids. In this thesis, the reader can find the main important characteristics of the bees, foulbroods , and selection of the bees itself.