Morphometry and number of spermatozoa in drone honeybees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) reared under different conditions

Abstract

Abstract. The effects of three factors operating during pre-emergence development period on some characteristics of drones were studied. Weight of newly emerged drones, length of forewing, length of tibia, length of femur, length and width of basitarsus and number of spermatozoa in drones from colonies in which the workers had access to drone brood (A), the size of brood cells differed (B) or the colony had a queen or was queenless (C), were determined. For this purpose, 9 colonies were chosen at random from the test apiary and prepared so that each contained one empty Langstroth frame with six small sub-frames containing drone combs, three of which were used to test the effect of one level and the other three the other level of each factor. The results showed that, colony status had a greater effect on the parameters measured than either the size of the brood cells or whether the workers had access to sealed brood cells. Most of the parameters were significantly different in C, whereas only a few in B and non in A were significantly different. The distance between discriminant scores in each experiment enhanced the previous results, as it was highest in C, followed by B and then A. Optimal drone characteristics may be recorded for colonies in which the queens were induced to lay unfertilized eggs in newly built drone combs, and then removed and the drone brood reared in a queen less colony.

The Effects of Starvation of Honey Bee Larvae on Reproductive Quality and Wing Asymmetry of Honey Bee Drones

“…In our experiment, the larvae were starved for ten hours, but this period could be effectively shorter for mass provisioned younger larvae than for progressively provisioned older larvae. Although body mass at emergence decreased through starvation in our study it still corresponded to average drone mass reported in literature ranging from 200 -290 mg (Jay, 1963;Woyke, 1978;Gençer & Firatli, 2005;Mazeed, 2011, Szentgyörgyi et al, 2016. Semen volume, which is vital for drone fitness, was unaffected by starvation.…”

“…It particularly influenced six-day-old larvae. The effect of early and late starvation differed probably because nursing bees feed the larvae differently according to age, needs (Haydak, 1970) and the colony's status (Mazeed, 2011). Chemical analysis showed that there is a substantial difference in food provisioned to 2-and 6-day-old drones (Matsuka et al, 1973).…”

Body mass but not wing size or symmetry correlates with life span of honey bee drones

“…Size and body mass of drones can change due to a number of conditions during their development. Drones that are undernourished (Czekońska et al ., 2015; Szentgyörgyi et al ., 2016), tended in suboptimal temperatures (Jaycox, 1961), or infested with parasites (Duay et al ., 2003; Retschnig et al ., 2014) during larval period are smaller and lighter at emergence; however, drones reared in queenless colonies are heavier than those reared in queenright colonies (Mazeed, 2011). Drones reared in larger colonies (Free & Williams, 1975), colonies that more intensively hoard pollen (Rueppell et al ., 2006 a , b ) or have better nutritional conditions (Czekońska et al ., 2015) are also usually larger and heavier at emergence.…”

Body mass of honey bee drones developing in constant and in changing temperatures

“…The factors that affect the body mass of the newly emerged drones include feeding, number of attending workers, and nest temperature (Haydak 1970;Free and Williams 1975;Hrassnigg and Crailsheim 2005;Czekońska et al 2015;Szentgyörgyi et al 2016). At a later age, the body mass of drones is mainly determined by the colony maintaining them and depends on its size, the presence of a queen, food availability, and health status (Wharton et al 2007(Wharton et al , 2008Boes 2010;Mazeed 2011;Czekońska et al 2019). The body mass of drones can be affected by many factors; therefore, marked differences are observed between colonies both in this and in other studies.…”