Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Department of Zoology and Physiology, Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
J Insect Sci. 2023 Sep 1;23(5). doi: 10.1093/jisesa/iead089.
Bombus vosnesenskii Radowszkowski, 1862 is one of three bumble bee species commercially available for pollination services in North America; however, little is documented about B. vosnesenskii colony life cycle or the establishment of ex situ rearing, mating, and overwintering practices. In this study, we documented nest success, colony size, and gyne production; recorded the duration of mating events; assessed overwintering survival of mated gynes; and evaluated second-generation nest success for colonies established from low- and high-elevation wild-caught B. vosnesenskii gynes. Of the 125 gynes installed, 62.4% produced brood cells (nest initiation) and 43.2% had at least 1 worker eclose (nest establishment). High-elevation B. vosnesenskii gynes had significantly higher nest initiation and establishment success than low-elevation gynes. However, low-elevation colonies were significantly larger with queens producing more gynes on average. Mating was recorded for 200 low-elevation and 37 high-elevation gynes, resulting in a mean duration of 62 and 51 min, respectively. Mated gynes were then placed into cold storage for 54 days to simulate overwintering, which resulted in 59.1% of low-elevation gynes surviving and 91.9% of high-elevation gynes surviving. For second-generation low-elevation gynes, 26.4% initiated nesting and 14.3% established nesting. Second-generation high-elevation gynes did not initiate nesting despite CO2 narcosis treatments. Overall, these results increase our understanding of B. vosnesenskii nesting, mating, and overwintering biology from 2 elevations. Furthermore, this study provides information on successful husbandry practices that can be used by researchers and conservationists to address knowledge gaps and enhance the captive rearing of bumble bees.
熊蜂 vosnesenskii Radowszkowski，1862 年是北美商业授粉服务中可用的三种熊蜂物种之一；然而，关于 B. vosnesenskii 群体生命周期或建立离体饲养、交配和越冬实践的文献很少。在这项研究中，我们记录了巢成功率、群体大小和雌蜂产量；记录了交配事件的持续时间；评估了交配后的雌蜂越冬存活率；并评估了从低海拔和高海拔野生捕获的 B. vosnesenskii 雌蜂建立的群体的第二代巢成功率。在所安装的 125 只雌蜂中，62.4%产生了育雏细胞（巢启动），43.2%至少有 1 只工蜂出壳（巢建立）。高海拔 B. vosnesenskii 雌蜂的巢启动和建立成功率明显高于低海拔雌蜂。然而，低海拔群体的大小明显更大，平均而言，女王产生的雌蜂更多。记录了 200 只低海拔和 37 只高海拔雌蜂的交配情况，分别导致交配持续时间平均为 62 分钟和 51 分钟。然后将交配后的雌蜂放入冷储存 54 天，以模拟越冬，结果表明 59.1%的低海拔雌蜂存活，91.9%的高海拔雌蜂存活。对于第二代低海拔雌蜂，有 26.4%开始筑巢，14.3%建立筑巢。尽管进行了二氧化碳麻醉处理，但第二代高海拔雌蜂仍未开始筑巢。总的来说，这些结果增加了我们对 B. vosnesenskii 筑巢、交配和越冬生物学的理解，来自两个海拔高度。此外，本研究提供了成功的饲养实践信息，研究人员和保护主义者可以利用这些信息来填补知识空白并增强对熊蜂的圈养繁殖。
