Honey bees consider larval nutritional status rather than genetic relatedness when selecting larvae for emergency queen rearing

Abstract

In honey bees and many other social insects, production of queens is a vital task, as colony fitness is dependent on queens. The factors considered by honey bee workers in selecting larvae to rear new queens during emergency queen rearing are poorly understood. Identifying these parameters is critical, both in an evolutionary and apicultural context. As female caste development in honey bees is dependent on larval diet (i.e. nutrition), we hypothesized that larval nutritional state is meticulously assessed and used by workers in selection of larvae for queen rearing. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of experiments manipulating the nutritional status of one day old larvae by depriving them of brood food for a four-hour period, and then allowing workers to choose larvae for rearing queens from nutritionally deprived and non-deprived larvae. We simultaneously investigated the role of genetic relatedness in selection of larvae for queen rearing. In all the experiments, significantly greater numbers of non-deprived larvae than deprived larvae were selected for queen rearing irrespective of genetic relatedness. Our results demonstrate that honey bees perceive the nutritional state of larvae and use that information when selecting larvae for rearing queens in the natural emergency queen replacement process.

Effect of gibberellic acid on the queen cell production and queen performance in colonies of Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…A similar study proved that vitamin supplementation not only improved the percentage of acceptance of queen cells, but also increased the royal jelly production of the workers that attended to the larvae with respect to the controls (Sahinler et al, 2005). A recent work showed that the nutritional status of the larvae is meticulously assessed and used by workers in the selection of larvae for queen rearing (Sagili et al, 2018). Authors performed a series of experiments manipulating the nutritional status of one-day-old larvae by depriving them of brood food for a four-hour period.…”

“…Nurse bees determine the fate of sibling female larvae by controlling food quantity and quality, resulting in two distinct phenotypes: queens and workers (Sagili et al, 2018). These worker bees have hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands that produce and secrete royal jelly, a complex mixture for the growth and development of young bees (Deseyn & Billen, 2005;Spannhoff et al, 2011).…”

Yetiştirme Kolonilerinde Ek Besleme Yapmanın Yumurta ve Farklı Yaştaki Larvalardan Yetiştirilen Ana Arıların (Apis mellifera L.) Üreme Özellikleri Üzerine Etkisi

“…Feeding of the queen rearing colonies with a feed containing protein, vitamins, and minerals can be said to increase the acceptance rate. According to Gençer et al [14] and Sagili et al [29] , adding pollen or a vitamin mixture to syrup increases the larval acceptance rate.…”

Experimental improvement of honey bee (Apis mellifera) queen quality through nutritional and hormonal supplementation

“…The larval nutritional state, which is linked to the age of the larva selected for queen rearing, is directly related to the queens weight at emergence (Weaver 1957;Woyke 1971;Sagili et al 2018). Older worker larvae shunted toward queen development emerge with fewer ovarioles and smaller spermathecae, resulting in a reduction in the number of sperm stored after their mating flights (Weaver 1957;Woyke 1971;Dedej et al 1998;Tarpy et al 2011).…”

“…Despite these well-documented studies on caste development and their implications on reproductive potential, it is yet unknown if queen quality is already maximized in naturally reared queens (Sagili et al 2018) or if there are any constraints during ontogenic development that can be artificially overridden to further improve reproductive quality. We hypothesized that the supplementation of the sugar levels in the diet provided to the larva at queen rearing and/or treatment of young larva with JH analogues could provide benefits to the reproductive quality of adult honey bee queens produced by grafting.…”