Semen quality of honey bee drones maintained from emergence to sexual maturity under laboratory, semi-field and field conditions

Abstract

International audienceIn order to evaluate the semen quality among honey bee populations, emergent honey bee drones were maintained to sexual maturity for 20 days under laboratory, semi-field, and field conditions. The drones were successfully maintained in laboratory conditions. Drones under laboratory and field conditions presented a lower spermatozoa concentration and lower protein content than those under semi-field conditions. The viability of spermatozoa was higher under laboratory conditions, and the ATP content and the superoxide dismutase activity were higher both under laboratory and field conditions compared to drones kept under semi-field conditions. Hence, our data indicate that the semen quality was similar in drones maintained under laboratory and field conditions

Assessment of the toxic effect of pesticides on honey bee drone fertility using laboratory and semifield approaches: A case study of fipronil

“…Indeed, weather conditions, such as precipitation and extreme temperatures, are additional stress factors that can lead to colony weakening [37]. Given that environmental factors and food have a substantial influence on drone maintenance [38,39] and fertility [40][41][42], it is not surprising that the 2 different approaches used in the present study produced slightly different results, similar to what was observed in a previous study [29]. These differences revealed that better survival and maturity rates were achieved when the laboratory method was used (Table 1).…”

“…The drones and workers used were collected from 15 healthy colonies and homogenized before they were introduced to hives and large cages (Figure A and B). In both approaches, the workers were used to take care of the drones from emergence to sexual maturity (20 d old; Figure C), and the bees were fed with a sugar solution, crushed pollen, and water . Under each rearing condition, the exposed bees were fed steadily with a sugar solution contaminated with fipronil at a low environmental concentration (0.1 μg L −1 ) .…”

Sperm parameters of honeybee drones exposed to imidacloprid

“…Testing the sperm quality of drones is important to understand the mechanism of biology of honeybee mating, including drone fitness, polyandry, and sperm competition (Ben Abdelkader et al 2014). The usefulness of single tests is very limited for the evaluation of sperm quality in drones (Wegener et al 2012).…”

Improving the future of honey bee breeding programs by employing recent scientific advances

“…Rearing conditions (field, semi-field, laboratory), exposure of brood and adult drones to extreme temperatures, as well as drone age can affect seminal volume and sperm viability [62][63][64][65]. Rearing conditions can affect the number of spermatozoa and seminal proteins as well as ATP (adenosine triphosphate; main energy source for sperm motility) content and SOD (superoxide dismutase; an enzyme that protects cells from oxidative damage) activity [64]. Interestingly, while an immune challenge decreased sperm viability, pollen deprivation in adult drones had no effect [65].…”