Avaliação bioclimática de colônias de abelhas africanizadas com diferentes sombreamentos durante o período chuvoso no semiárido.

Abstract

Apis mellifera bees have a wide territorial distribution, being able to adapt to the most diverse climatic conditions, this is due to the physiological and behavioral characteristics, which help in temperature control. The life cycle of bees can be affected by several environmental factors, with relative air humidity and temperature being the most worrying. In regions with a hot climate, such as the Northeastern semi-arid region, it is still common to observe apiaries exposed to intense solar radiation, thus reducing the well-being of these animals. In order to reduce the stress of these animals, it is necessary to set up apiaries in places that have shade, especially in the dry season, in order to offer thermal comfort to the bees and the beekeeper during handling. With this, the objective was to evaluate different types of shading and their effects on the internal temperature of Africanized bee colonies. Three types of shading were evaluated: natural shading (SN); coverage with 50% shading screen (CS) and fiber cement tile (FC). Fifteen hives were used, five per treatment, in a completely randomized design. In each treatment, the temperature and internal humidity of the hives and the wet bulb index of the globe thermometer - WTGB and the humidity - U were evaluated. Data were collected at the end of the rainy season in the region. With this, it was possible to observe that the type of shading at the end of the rainy season does not change the internal temperature of the hive, however studies are needed on these types of shading in the dry period.