Influence of wintering temperature on the state of the antioxidative system in Apis mellifera L.

The state of the antioxidant system of protection of honey bees Apis mellifera carnica under the action of different temperatures in order to optimize the temperature regime to keep of bee colonies indoors during the winter was studied. Bee colonies of 81–91-day-old worker bees were transferred from the territory of the Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University apiary during the period of sharp changes in temperature (the end of November) in constant conditions of the buildings (5±0.6°С and 14±0.8°C) and were kept there for 12 weeks. The selection of worker bees for biochemical analysis was performed 7 times every two weeks. The level of TBA-active products (TBARS), catalase (CAT) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity in insect tagmas (head, thorax and abdomen) were studied. It has been found that the transfer of bee colonies from unstable temperature conditions to stable ones, regardless of their value, leads to a decrease in the flow rate of lipid peroxidation (TBRAS level) against the background of increasing activity of enzymes (CAT та GST). The tagmospecific response of the antioxidant system of honey bees depending on the wintering temperature was revealed. Keeping bee colonies indoors at constant temperatures (for ten weeks) was accompanied by certain coherence in the work of the antioxidant system of insects. In particular, the TBRAS level, as well as the activity of enzymes, did not change significantly during the study. However, in early February (at the end of the experiment), regardless of the building temperature, the TBARS level was increased in the tissues of the bee’s head, and in the tissues of the abdomen the GST activity was intensified. At the same time, in the middle of winter (on January), the level of TBARS in bees, that were kept at +5°С, was lower in comparison with bees that wintered at +14°С. The optimal temperatures for keeping bee colonies in winter indoors was proposed: for bee colonies of medium strength at temperatures around +5°С, and for bee colonies of weak strength around +14°С by the end of January with further temperature decrease to +10°С.