Desenvolvimento de colônias de abelhas Apis mellifera africanizadasna região de Maringá, Estado do Paraná

This research was carried out to evaluate the growing of Africanized honeybee colonies from July 1999 to June 2000, as for the percentages of occupation area with brood,food, occupied total area, to correlate them with environmental variables and to determine the tenor of crude protein in the pollen stocked in the combs by workers. Five colonies were mapped monthly, which were made the counting of the occupied area with brood, food, occupied total area and also the pollen was collected and submitted to thebromatological analysis to determine the tenor of crude protein. The medium percentages of occupation with brood (egg-larvae plus workers pupa and drones), with food (honey and pollen) and of the occupied total area they were not also different among the treatments (p>0.05). The Africanized honeybee colonies reduced their population with low external temperatures (winter) and also with excess of relative humidity of the air (summer). Themedium tenor of crude protein in the pollen during the year was 24.51%, and this value isacceptable for a good development of the colonies.