Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
Graduate Program in Biology-Ecology & Evolution, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
J Econ Entomol. 2019 May 22;112(3):1043-1049. doi: 10.1093/jee/toz003.
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) (Linnaeus) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) queens, the reproductive female caste, are crucial for colony success, and many management problems that beekeepers face are related to their diminished reproductive quality and premature failure. Previous research has suggested that temperature extremes may affect the viability of stored sperm in queens' spermathecae, thus the abiotic conditions of queens during transport may be germane to these problems. We recorded the temperatures experienced by queens during 2 yr of package transportation and tracked the newly installed colonies through establishment and buildup. During this critical 6-8 wk period, we observed typically high rates of queen failure (~25%) but found no indication that these postinstallation queen events were driven by temperature-related damage to stored sperm (an essential component of queen quality) incurred during transportation. We also found no indication of significant hot or cold zones across the truckloads of packages that would suggest a problem in how packages are insulated during transportation. However, we did observe significantly higher temperatures (31.2 vs. 29.9°C) and lower temperature variance (8.8 vs. 12.2) in queens that ultimately failed during the observation period, indicating that workers may respond differently to these queens in a way that manifests as more insulating clusters around queen cages. If so, then the collective process by which workers accept or reject a foreign queen may already be detectable even if it does not ultimately conclude until some weeks later. Nevertheless, it remains unclear why large numbers of otherwise high-quality queens are failing in newly installed packages.
蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）（林奈）（膜翅目：蜜蜂科）蜂王是生殖雌性蜂，对蜂群的成功至关重要，养蜂人面临的许多管理问题都与蜂王生殖质量下降和过早衰竭有关。先前的研究表明，极端温度可能会影响蜂王储精囊中储存精子的活力，因此，蜂王在运输过程中的非生物条件可能与这些问题有关。我们记录了蜂王在 2 年的包装运输过程中经历的温度，并通过建立和建立跟踪新安装的殖民地。在这关键的 6-8 周期间，我们观察到蜂王的死亡率通常很高（约 25%），但没有迹象表明这些新安装的蜂王事件是由于运输过程中储存精子（蜂王质量的重要组成部分）受到与温度相关的损害造成的。我们也没有发现运输过程中包装隔热有任何明显的热点或冷点的迹象，这表明在运输过程中可能存在问题。然而，我们确实观察到在观察期间最终失败的蜂王的温度（31.2 对 29.9°C）和温度方差（8.8 对 12.2）明显更高，这表明工蜂可能以一种表现为蜂王笼周围有更多隔热簇的方式对这些蜂王做出不同的反应。如果是这样，那么工蜂接受或拒绝外来蜂王的集体过程即使在数周后才最终结束，也可能已经可以检测到。然而，为什么如此多其他高质量的蜂王在新安装的蜂群中失败仍然不清楚。
