In vitro rearing of stingless bee queens and their acceptance rate into colonies

Abstract

-The in vitro rearing of queen bees can improve the management and conservation of pollinator insects. Here, we have developed an in vitro queen-rearing protocol for Plebeia droryana (Apidae, Meliponini). Firstly, we evaluated the amount of food offered naturally to P. droryana queen larvae. After, we grafted P. droryana larvae onto acrylic plates which were kept in constant darkness at 25°C and different relative humidity along larval development. We also compared intertegular distance of P. droryana queens reared in vitro and naturally. We then tested whether queens reared in vitro would be accepted into new colonies with older and/ or callow workers. We found that P. droryana larvae developed into queens if fed with 66 μL of larval food. The survival rate of P. droryana queens was >75 %. The queens reared in vitro are similar in size to naturally produced ones. Finally, colonies only containing callow workers are more likely to accept queens reared in vitro. This queen-rearing technique may improve beekeeping practices in the Neotropical Region.bees / beneficial arthropods / caste determination / crops / pollinators / queen production / virgin queens

External morphometric and microscopic analysis of the reproductive system inin- vitroreared stingless bee queens,Heterotrigona itama, and their mating frequency

“…The queen cells were separated from the edges of the brood combs to prevent excessive cell damage. Calibrated microcapillary tubes with an auto-micropipette setup [16], with slight modifications, were used to meticulously collect and determine the larval feeding amounts from individual recently capped-brood cells, each containing a single egg [17]. Typically, newly constructed worker brood cells are dark brown, whereas as they progress into larvae, they lighten in color since the worker bees remove the cerumen [10].…”

“…Artificial queen-rearing techniques for stingless bees involve overfeeding 1-3-d-old female larvae in vitro [15][16][17], as caste determination is primarily based on the amount of larval food [18]. Female larvae destined to become queens receive more food in larger royal cells, whereas those becoming workers are reared in smaller brood cells [18].…”

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted June 14, 2024. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.12.598741 doi: bioRxiv preprint being accepted. Additionally, we deemed the in vitro rearing of the queens as successful when the queens vibrated their wings, were not attacked by workers, and exhibited trophallaxis with other bees [16]. All experimental procedures were conducted at the Nakhon Si Thammarat apiary.…”

Survivorship and food consumption of immatures and adults of Apis mellifera and Scaptotrigona bipunctata exposed to genetically modified eucalyptus pollen

“…The evaluation of the possible effects of Eucalyptus pollen 751K032 on immatures of S. bipunctata and both adults of A. mellifera and S. bipunctata was performed by analyzing and comparing the survival curves for the larval development period of the immatures and for a pre-established period of consumption by the adults, respectively. In the first case, this period covered the first days of the larvae (1-3 days) until the phase in which they all became pupae, which is the most critical stage of bee development, where most mortality is commonly observed (Santos et al 2015;Dorneles et al 2021). In the second case, the exposure of adults occurred for a period of 10 consecutive days.…”

A systemic fungicide might reduce the male genitalia of a stingless bee species by one-third

“…To investigate the toxicity risk of a fungicide (Carbendazim) associated with an insecticide (Chlorpyrifos) to larvae of Scaptotrigona bipunctata (Lepeletier, 1836) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) reared in vitro, we conducted experiments in a non-Apis bee species expecting female emergence. Stingless bee larvae have not shown male emergence in artificially reared experiments (Baptistella et al 2012;Menezes et al 2013;Santos et al 2015). This may be due to the fact that stingless bee males are typically produced in small clusters in combs for short periods, and often in quantities below 10% (Velthuis et al 2005), making their observation rather rare.…”