Position of the Honeybee Queen, Apis mellifera, during Egg-Laying (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Fleig
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Honeybee Queen

scholarly journals Successful Indoor Mass Storage of Honeybee Queens (Apis mellifera) during Winter

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 402
Author(s):  
Andrée Rousseau ◽  
Pierre Giovenazzo
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Cluster Formation ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Sperm Viability ◽  
Mass Storage ◽  
Honeybee Queen ◽  
Commercial Scale ◽  
Cluster Temperature ◽  
Different Temperatures

The production of young, mated honeybee queens (Apis mellifera) is essential to replace dead queens or to start new colonies after wintering. Mass storage of mated honeybee queens during winter and their use the following spring is an interesting strategy that could help fulfill this need. In this study, we investigated the survival, fertility, and fecundity of young, mated queens stored massively in queenless colonies from September to April (eight months). The queens were kept in environmentally controlled rooms at temperatures above and below cluster formation. The results show that indoor mass storage of mated queens can be achieved with success when queen banks are stored above cluster temperature. Significantly higher survival of queens was measured when wintering queen banks at 16 °C. Surviving queens wintered at different temperatures above or below cluster formation had similar fertility (sperm viability) and fecundity (egg laying and viable worker population). This study shows the potential of indoor overwintering of honeybee queen banks. The technique we describe could be applied on a commercial scale by beekeepers and queen breeders.

scholarly journals Rearing Drones in Queen Cells of Apis mellifera Honey Bees

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-128
Author(s):  
Georgios Goras ◽  
Chrysoula Tananaki ◽  
Sofia Gounari ◽  
Elissavet Lazaridou ◽  
Dimitrios Kanelis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Larval Development ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Royal Jelly ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Horizontal Position ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Queen Larvae ◽  
As If

Abstract We investigated the rearing of drone larvae grafted in queen cells. From the 1200 drone larvae that were grafted during spring and autumn, 875 were accepted (72.9%) and reared as queens. Drone larvae in false queen cells received royal jelly of the same composition and of the same amounts as queen larvae. Workers capped the queen cells as if they were drones, 9-10 days after the egg laying. Out of 60 accepted false queen cells, 21 (35%) were capped. The shape of false queen cells with drone larvae is unusually long with a characteristically elongate tip which is probably due to the falling of larvae. Bees start the destruction of the cells when the larvae were 3 days old and maximised it before and after capping. Protecting false queen cells in the colony by wrapping, reversing them upside down, or placing in a horizontal position, did not help. The only adult drones that emerged from the false queen cells were those protected in an incubator and in push-in cages. Adult drones from false queen cells had smaller wings, legs, and proboscis than regular drones. The results of this study verify previous reports that the bees do not recognise the different sex of the larvae at least at the early stage of larval development. The late destruction of false queen cells, the similarity in quality and quantity of the produced royal jelly, and the bigger drone cells, allow for the use of drone larvae in cups for the production of royal jelly.

THE ROLE OF NUTRITION AND TEMPERATURE IN THE OVARIAN DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORKER HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFERA)

1998 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 883-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huarong Lin ◽  
Mark L. Winston
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Royal Jelly ◽  
Ovarian Development ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Brood Chamber ◽  
Laying Workers

AbstractQueenless, caged, newly emerged worker bees (Apis mellifera L.) were fed honey, 22 and 40% pollen in honey, and 22 and 40% royal jelly in honey for 14 days. Workers fed royal jelly, pollen, and honey had large, medium, and small ovaries, respectively. Royal jelly had higher nutritive value for workers’ ovarian development than did pollen, possibly because royal jelly is predigested by nurse bees and easily used by adult and larval bees. These results suggest that nurse bees could mediate workers’ ovarian development in colonies via trophallactic exchange of royal jelly. Six levels of royal jelly in honey, 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% (royal jelly without honey), were tested for their effects on workers’ ovarian development and mortality for 10 days. High levels of royal jelly increased ovarian development, but also increased worker mortality. All caged bees treated with 100% royal jelly died within 3 days. When workers were incubated at 20, 27, and 34 °C for 10 days, only bees at 34 °C developed ovaries. These findings suggest that nurse bees functioning as units which digest pollen and produce royal jelly may feed some potentially egg-laying workers in a brood chamber with royal jelly when a queen is lost in a colony. Feeding workers a diet of 50% royal jelly in honey and incubating at 34 °C for 10 days is recommended for tests of ovarian development.

Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) infestation in queen, worker, and drone brood of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

2002 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.T. Santillán-Galicia ◽  
G. Otero-Colina ◽  
C. Romero-Vera ◽  
J. Cibrián-Tovar
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Varroa Destructor ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Simultaneous Test ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Drone Brood ◽  
Worker Brood

AbstractVarroa destructor Anderson and Trueman females were placed in contact with queen, worker, and drone brood cells of Apis mellifera L. that were soon to be sealed. In a non-choice test, V. destructor adult females were introduced into a comb containing either queen or worker brood cells; 0.62 and 18.28% of the mites entered the queen and worker brood cells, respectively. Only 1 of the 11 mites that entered queen brood cells oviposited, laying a single egg. In another test, brood cells were combined in the same comb in a 1:25:3 queen:worker:drone ratio. The percentages of egg-laying mites in queen, worker, and drone brood cells were 16.66, 61.86, and 79.06%, respectively. When queen, worker, and drone brood cells were combined in equal proportions (33.3:33.3:33.3), percent infestation was significantly different among queen (3.25%), worker (49.12%), and drone (90.07%) brood. Multiple infestation was found in drone brood cells but not in others. Also, mites were inoculated into sealed queen cells. These cells contained either one or two mites (either at the egg or protonymph stage). Conversely, in a simultaneous test with worker brood cells, the offspring per foundress mite included a mean of three individuals (either at the egg, protonymph, or deutonymph stage). It is concluded that V. destructor can infest queen, worker, and drone brood cells, but drone brood cells are preferred; in addition, queen brood cells do not provide an optimal environment for reproduction because it causes a delay in mite oviposition and (or) progeny development.

Attraction and Repellence of Workers by the Honeybee Queen (Apis mellifera L.)

Ethology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 465-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin F. A. Moritz ◽  
Robin M. Crewe ◽  
H. Randall Hepburn
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honeybee Queen

scholarly journals Absence of Nepotism in Waggle Communication of Honeybees (Apis mellifera)

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zu Yun Zhang ◽  
Zhen Li ◽  
Qiang Huang ◽  
Wu Jun Jiang ◽  
Zhi Jiang Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Genetic Variability ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Genetic Predisposition ◽  
Microsatellite Dna ◽  
Kin Recognition ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Dna Analyses ◽  
Honeybee Queen ◽  
Dance Communication

AbstractThe polyandrous mating behavior of the honeybee queen increases the genetic variability among her worker offspring and the workers of particular subfamilies tend to have a genetic predisposition for tasks preference. In this study, we intended to understand whether there is nepotism in dance communication of honeybees during natural conditions. Microsatellite DNA analyses revealed a total of fourteen and twelve subfamilies in two colonies. The subfamily composition of the dancer and the followers did not deviate from random. The majority of the subfamilies did not show kin recognition in dance-recruit communication in honeybee colonies, but some subfamilies showed significant nepotism for workers to follow their super-sister dancer. Because it seems unlikely that honeybee would change the tendency to follow dancers due to the degree of relatedness, we conclude that honeybees randomly follow a dancer in order to e benefit colony gain and development.

INFLUENCE OF AGE AND POPULATION SIZE ON OVARIAN DEVELOPMENT, AND OF TROPHALLAXIS ON OVARIAN DEVELOPMENT AND VITELLOGENIN TITRES OF QUEENLESS WORKER HONEY BEE (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE)

1999 ◽  
Vol 131 (5) ◽  
pp. 695-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huarong Lin ◽  
Mark L. Winston ◽  
Norbert H. Haunerland ◽  
Keith N. Slessor
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Royal Jelly ◽  
Ovarian Development ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Ovary Development ◽  
Dominance Status ◽  
Access To Food

AbstractWe examined the factors that might influence ovary development in worker honey bees, Apis mellifera L. Queenless workers at different ages (≤ 12 h, and 4, 8, and 21 d) were tested in cages for ovarian development. Newly emerged, 4- and 8-d-old, and 21-d-old workers had medium-, large-, and small-sized ovaries, respectively, suggesting that of the worker ages tested only 4- and 8-d-old workers are likely to become egg layers in a queenless colony. Also, we compared ovarian development of newly emerged workers that were caged for 14 d and allowed to consume either pollen or royal jelly to that of another group of workers similarly caged but screened so that they could only obtain food via trophallaxis from young bees. Ovaries of newly emerged workers that received food from young bees were as well developed as those of newly emerged workers allowed to take pollen or royal jelly directly. Screened workers also had lower but still elevated vitellogenin levels compared with bees having direct access to food. These results indicate that nurse-age bees functioning as pollen-digesting units affect the ovarian development of other workers and to a lesser extent vitellogenesis via food exchange. We compared the influence of group sizes of 25, 125, and 600 bees per cage on ovarian development for 14 d. The two groups of 25 and 125 bees had similar mean ovary scores, and higher scores than a group of 600 bees. Our findings suggest that nurse-age bees could play an important role in mediating worker fertility via trophallaxis, possibly by differentiating worker dominance status, and generally only young workers become fertile when a queen is lost in a colony. Vitellogenin is a more sensitive parameter to measure bee fertility, and might be a useful tool to further explore ovary development and egg laying in worker social insects. We recommend measuring haemolymph vitellogenin titres and (or) oocyte length of workers in a group of 25 bees per cage, supplied with 50% royal jelly in honey as a standard method to assess honey bee worker fertility in future experiments.

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