MÉTODO DE MARCAJE MASIVO DE ABEJAS APIS MELLIFERA (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) PARA ESTUDIOS ECOETOLÓGICOS

Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n.s.), 29(1): 248-251 (2013)

MÉTODO DE MARCAJE MASIVO DE ABEJAS APIS MELLIFERA (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) PARA ESTUDIOS ECOETOLÓGICOS

Oscar MIKERY-PACHECO, Erik SOLÓRZANO-GORDILLO & Daniel SÁNCHEZ-GUILLÉN

ABSTRACT

A device that uses fluorescent powder to automatically mark large numbers of honey bees provides a good method to distinguish focal colony foragers from foragers of other colonies. However, when humidity is high, the powder readily forms pellets that cannot pass through the mesh and marking is diminished. We present here an apparatus to mass-mark honeybees with liquid paint. We demonstrate that this low-cost device is a highly efficient method to mark honeybees and does not produce any observable mortality on test foragers or impairing flight ability.