Performance of Bee Colonies Headed by Queens Instrumentally Inseminated with Semen of Drones Who Come from a Single Colony or Many Colonies

Abstract

A b s t r a c t The aim of the study was to determine the effect of honey bee worker diversity within the colony on: development, honey productivity, and wintering. Two different levels of diversity within the colony were tested. The appropriate levels of diversity within the colony were obtained by selecting drones for inseminating the queens. Lower genetic diversity was obtained in the colonies headed by a queen inseminated with semen collected from drones originating from a single colony. Higher genetic diversity was obtained in the colonies with queens inseminated with semen from drones of 30 different colonies. Colonies with a higher genetic variation of workers in the colonies had greater levels of functional characteristics. However, apart from the number of dead bees in winter, the genetic diversity level of the workers on the colony development and honey production, did not have a significant influence. There was an averaging effect observed concerning that male component in the colonies with a higher genetic variation of workers -on honey yield, when compared to the non-additive effect of the best drones.

Long-Term Evaluation of Breeding Scheme Alternatives for Endangered Honeybee Subspecies

“…When inseminating queens instrumentally, breeders can mimic the situation on mating stations; i.e., use the sperm of drones from a sister group of drone-producing colonies to fertilize the queens [ 5 , 7 ]. But a wide range of alternative procedures is possible, reaching from the use of mixed semen from large numbers of drones [ 90 ] to inseminations with drones from a single colony [ 91 ] or even single-drone inseminations [ 92 ]. In his simulation studies, Moritz [ 46 ] propagated artificial insemination with mixed sperm of many drones.…”

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

“…However, Harbo (1990) found that a careful stirring of the 1:1 semen diluent, worked as well as centrifugation. The hand-stirring method has been used in different studies (Skowronek et al 1995;Gerula et al 2014). Usually drone semen is not diluted, unless necessary for research.…”

Observation of Genetic Gain with Instrumental Insemination of Honeybee Queens

“…Indeed, many factors strongly impact the success of insemination, including total asepsis, mucus presence in the syringe and time needed to complete the insemination [ 23 , 54 , 55 ]. The losses in our study could also be linked to a genetic weakness within the colony caused by the insemination of queens by related drones [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. Low genetic diversity within a colony reduces the behavioral diversity of the workers and limits population growth, with repercussions on the use of environmental resources and even on resistance to diseases, parasites and environmental fluctuations [ 3 , 56 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ].…”