Effects of Honeybee Queen Weight and Air Temperature on the Initiation of Oviposition

Tibor,; Szabó, István; Mills, P. F.; Heikel, Diane T.

doi:10.1080/00218839.1987.11100740

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Woyke [1971] also demonstrated significant correlations between physical traits, but only evaluated them in the queens being reared from brood at various ages (eggs, one-day, two-day and three-day larvae) together. The lack of a significant correlation between the body weight of emerging queens and the onset of oviposition being also found in our study is consistent with the study by Szabo et al [1987] and Skowronek et al [2002].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Effect of restricted pollen supply to colonies on the quality of reared queen bees

Chuda-Mickiewicz¹,

Samborski²

2020

Acta Sci. Pol. Zootech.

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The quality of queens reared in colonies with restricted (RP) and not restricted pollen supply (NRP) was evaluated during foraging on false acacia and small-leaved and broad-leaved lime. It was shown that the body weight of queens in both groups immediately after emergence and on the day of instrumental insemination did not differ significantly (221.8 ±15 and 224.3 ±15 and 170.9 ±15 and 177.5 ±14 mg, respectively). The waiting time to start oviposition was similar: 4.7 ±1.8 days in RP group and 5.7 ±2.8 days in NRP group, not being significantly different. There were no significant differences in the diameter and volume of spermatheca and the number of ovarioles in the right ovary between the queens of the tested groups.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Effect of restricted pollen supply to colonies on the quality of reared queen bees

Chuda-Mickiewicz¹,

Samborski²

2020

Acta Sci. Pol. Zootech.

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“…The consequences for the colony of shifting away from optimum temperature during brood development can include increased malformations and mortality of the brood, reduced waggle dance performance, impaired learning and memory capacities, and possible increased susceptibility to pesticides in adult worker bees (Medrzycki et al 2010;Tautz et al 2003). Queens are known to be resilient and to survive considerable range of temperature and conditions during short-term storage (Nelson 1987;Reid 1975;Szabo et al 1987), however, the full consequences of periods of non-optimal nest temperatures early in the queen's life are poorly understood. In this study, when queen shipments were exposed to the average temperature found in commercial shipments (26°C) without any extreme temperature, bees kept an average temperature of 30°C, suggesting that this could be an optimal for queens and bees outside the nest.…”

Section: Thermoregulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of shipping boxes, attendant bees, and temperature on honey bee queen sperm quality (Apis mellifera)

2020

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The fertility and fecundity of the queen are vital to the success of a honey bee colony (Apis mellifera L.). Young mated queens are shipped worldwide to meet the demand of the beekeeping industry. Since little is known about the conditions experienced by queens in transit from breeders to beekeepers and the importance of these conditions on the queens' reproductive potential, we conducted a two-part study. First, queen shipments from the USA and Canada to Canadian beekeepers were monitored to measure thermal conditions during shipment. A total of 39 shipments were followed in 2017 and 2018. Monitoring revealed variable temperatures during shipment, with occasional periods of lows (10-15°C) and highs (30-36°C). Second, young mated queens were placed in different shipping boxes with or without attendant bees and exposed to one of three temperatures (6°C, 26°C, and 40°C) for 2 h. We then compared the thermoregulation within shipping boxes, and the viability of sperm in each queen's spermatheca. Our results show that both low and high temperatures significantly decrease sperm viability, and that the addition of loose attendant bees within shipment boxes helps maintain the temperature at 26°C when exposed to low temperature and delays the temperature increase when temperatures are high. The study shows the potential to improve current honey bee shipping methods in order to mitigate variable conditions experienced by bees during transportation.

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“…Honey bee queens are typically assessed for their quality based on reproductive longevity, potential amount of viable brood they can produce, the number of the drones with which they have mated, and the genetic diversity of her mates [28]. There are several traits that are associated with queen quality, including overall weight [11,28,29,30,31,32,33], weight of the ovaries [34,35,36], weight of the spermatheca, and the number of viable stored spermatozoa [11,28,29,37,38,39,40]. Queen quality is impacted by the age at which larvae are nutritionally directed into the queen developmental pathway via continued feeding of royal jelly [12,41,42,43].…”

Section: Introduction/backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putative Drone Copulation Factors Regulating Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Queen Reproduction and Health: A Review

Brutscher

Baer

Niño

2019

Insects

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Honey bees are major pollinators of agricultural and non-agricultural landscapes. In recent years, honey bee colonies have exhibited high annual losses and commercial beekeepers frequently report poor queen quality and queen failure as the primary causes. Honey bee colonies are highly vulnerable to compromised queen fertility, as each hive is headed by one reproductive queen. Queens mate with multiple drones (male bees) during a single mating period early in life in which they obtain enough spermatozoa to fertilize their eggs for the rest of their reproductive life span. The process of mating initiates numerous behavioral, physiological, and molecular changes that shape the fertility of the queen and her influence on the colony. For example, receipt of drone semen can modulate queen ovary activation, pheromone production, and subsequent worker retinue behavior. In addition, seminal fluid is a major component of semen that is primarily derived from drone accessory glands. It also contains a complex mixture of proteins such as proteases, antioxidants, and antimicrobial proteins. Seminal fluid proteins are essential for inducing post-mating changes in other insects such as Drosophila and thus they may also impact honey bee queen fertility and health. However, the specific molecules in semen and seminal fluid that initiate post-mating changes in queens are still unidentified. Herein, we summarize the mating biology of honey bees, the changes queens undergo during and after copulation, and the role of drone semen and seminal fluid in post-mating changes in queens. We then review the effects of seminal fluid proteins in insect reproduction and potential roles for honey bee drone seminal fluid proteins in queen reproduction and health. We finish by proposing future avenues of research. Further elucidating the role of drone fertility in queen reproductive health may contribute towards reducing colony losses and advancing honey bee stock development.

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Effects of Honeybee Queen Weight and Air Temperature on the Initiation of Oviposition

Cited by 16 publications

References 5 publications

Effect of restricted pollen supply to colonies on the quality of reared queen bees

Effect of restricted pollen supply to colonies on the quality of reared queen bees

Effect of shipping boxes, attendant bees, and temperature on honey bee queen sperm quality (Apis mellifera)

Putative Drone Copulation Factors Regulating Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Queen Reproduction and Health: A Review

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