SUMMARYAltogether 142 queens were inseminated with 8 mm' of semen of drones two to nine weeks old. Inseminated queens were caged in bee colonies. They were killed and investigated 48 hrs later.As the age of drones increased, mostly a lower number of spermatozoa entered the spermatheca of queens. With the increasing age of drones, the percentage of queens with residue of semen in oviducts increased, from 0-14 % in those inseminated with semen of drones two weeks old, to 43 %-67 % in those inseminated with semen of four week-old drones. Variations occurred in different seasons. Queens which cannot clear their oviducts from the injected semen would die.

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Summary — Virgin queens homozygous for the recessive cordovan body color gene were inseminated with semen of cordovan drones. The queens were divided into 4 groups and were treated as follows: 1), inseminated with 8 mm 3 of semen; 2), treated with CO 2 before insemination with 8 mm 3 of semen; 3), inseminated twice with 4 mm 3 of semen; and 4), treated twice with CO 2 , ie before and after insemination with 8 mm 3 of semen. Queen excluders were removed from the entrances after the last treatment. Mating nuclei were placed in the apiary with dominant black drones. The number of emerging cordovan and black workers was determined. Of the queens which were only inseminated once, 50% mated naturally; however, out of those additionally treated once with CO 2 , only 25% mated. No queen from the 2 other groups mated naturally. The ratio of wild black progeny originating from queens which also mated naturally was on average 33.4% for group 1, and 6.2% for group 2. Queens from group 1 additionally mated naturally on average with 3 drones per queen, and those from group 2 with only 1 drone per queen. Double insemination with the same total amount of semen or 2 additional CO 2 treatments prevented additional natural mating of instrumentally inseminated queens. natural mating / instrumental insemination / queen bee

SUMMARYHoneybee queens were instrumentally inseminated with 8 mm' of semen. Next they were kept without workers in nursery cages in a colony, or with 0 up to 350 attendant worker bees in small boxes placed in an incubator at 34 °C. The queens were killed and dissected two days after insemination. Queens kept in nursery cages had on the average 2.5 million spermatoza in their spermatheca. An increasing number of attendant workers resulted in a higher number of spermatozoa penetrating queens spermatheca. The highest number of 4.5 million of spermatozoa was found in the spermatheca of queens kept with 250 workers after instrumental insemination. These queens had 1.8 times more spermatozoa in the spermatheca than those kept without workers. It is recommended to keep queens for two days in an incubator after instrumental insemination, with 250 attendant workers.

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SUMMARYAltogether 237 queens, 1-47 days old, were instrumentally inseminated with 8 mm 3 of semen. The queens which survived were killed 48 hrs after insemination and the number of spermatozoa in their spermatheca was counted. A significant influence of the age of queens on the results of insemination was found. Heavy losses occurred (survival 14-23 !j!) and a low number of spermatozoa entered the spermatheca (2.658 million), after queens 1-3 days old were inseminated. The best results in survival (75-100 %) and the highest number of spermatozoa entering the spermatheca (avg. 3.975 million) were obtained, when queens 5-10 days old were inseminated. Instrumental insemination of queens 5-14 days old is recommended. Older queens can be inseminated, but significantly fewer spermatozoa (2.356 million) enter their spermatheca.

SUMMARYAltogether 60 queens were instrumentally inseminated with 8 MM 3 of semen. They were placed into small boxes kept at room temperature, with different numbers of attendant workers. Temperature inside the bee cluster was measured twice a day. Queens were killed and examined 48 hrs after insemination.The increase of the number of attendant workers, from 20 up to 350, resulted in an increase of the number of spermatozoa migrating into the queen's spermatheca from 1.825 million up to 4.102 million. Thus a 2.25 times increases of the number of spermatozoa in the spermatheca was achieved by the higher number of attendants.While 20 or 40 workers were able to raise the inside temperature only 2 °C-3 °C above the outside temperature, 250 or 350 workers raised the temperature 12 °C-14 °C reaching 32.7 °C and 34.6 °C respectively.Very high correlation was found to exist between the number of attendant workers, the temperature inside the small bee cluster, and the number of spermatozoa in the queen's spermatheca. Regression coefficients indicated that an increase of 100 attendant workers raised the temperature 3.5 °C and the number of spermatozoa in spermatheca by 629 thousand.