Factors, based on common practices, affecting the results of instrumental insemination of honey bee queens

Abstract

This study shows how the addition of a saline solution to drone semen and the pre-and postinsemination care of honey bee queens affect both the number of sperm in the spermatheca and the condition of the oviducts. Queens were instrumentally inseminated and stored under various conditions. These conditions included being held in mailing cages with 15 or 25 workers in which all were kept at 20°C or 34°C, and being held in nursery colonies in which the queens were caged without worker bees. Some of the queens in each group were inseminated with semen only, others were inseminated with semen and saline. The number of spermatozoa in the spermatheca did not significantly differ between the queens inseminated with semen only and those inseminated with semen and the saline solution. The queens kept in mailing cages with workers had significantly more spermatozoa than those queens banked in cages without worker bees. The addition of a saline solution to semen, and the conditions the queens were stored in, did not significantly affect the condition of the oviducts. honey bee queens / instrumental insemination / number of spermatozoa in spermatheca / condition of oviducts

Effect of Time Between Carbon Dioxide Treatments on the Onset of Oviposition in Queen Honey Bees

“…The percent of dead queens after insemination in this experiment (7.8) was similar to the results reported by others (3.3-7.9) (Bieńkowska & Panasiuk, 2006;Chuda-Mickiewicz et al, 2012;Gąbka et al, 2016;Gąbka & Cobey, 2018;Gąbka, 2022). In the experiments by Ebadi & Gary (1980), Kaftanoglu & Peng (1980, 1982 and Moritz & Kühnert (1984), the mortality rates were higher (16-35%).…”