Improving Apis mellifera Breeding Quality by Swarm Impulse Manipulation

Commodities

Practices

• Animal Production: livestock breeding

The growth and reproduction of a honey bee colony relies on a
complex mélange of pheromonal cues that are not entirely
quantified. These cues include information that tells worker bees
to create new queens under duress (emergency supersedure) or in
advance of healthy colony-level reproduction (the swarm).

In both swarms and supersedures, a new queen is made; in the
former through an egg laid in a queen-sized cell, and in the
latter by an egg laid in a worker-sized cell. Beekeepers use
supersedure impulses to take larvae from worker cells and turn
them into queens by transferring them to artificial starter
cells, or queen "cups”. This allows for commercial queen rearing
where dozens of queens can be bred simultaneously.

This experiment aims to leverage the swarm impulse instead,
creating conditions where a beekeeper raises queens from eggs
laid directly into queen cups. This means creating varied frame
configurations, with artificial queen cups placed in different
locations. The queen will then be confined to a restricted space
for laying. The colony will be overcrowded with excess nutrients,
to simulate a natural swarming situation.

If the colony conditions can be manipulated such that a queen
will lay eggs directly in artificial queen cups, the resulting
eggs will be larger, resulting in a more robust queen that will
have more robust laying potential (Wei et al., 2019).
Additionally, the offspring from these queens are likely to
themselves be more robust, with greater pollen and nectar
foraging capacity (Yu et al., 2023).

Create a new queen-rearing process that induces a queen honey bee
to lay eggs directly into beekeeper-supplied queen cups. Test
successful methods in real-world situations with volunteer
beekeepers. Communicate project results through in-person and
virtual talks, as well as trade magazine publications
(American Bee Journal).