Department of Biology and Bioinformatics, School of Bioscience, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden.
Nordens Ark Foundation, Åby Säteri, Hunnebostrand, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 13;19(8):e0308831. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308831. eCollection 2024.
Honeybee drones' only known task is to mate with a virgin queen. Apart from their mating behaviour, their ecology has been little studied, especially in comparison to honeybee females. Previous knowledge is primarily based on short-term direct observations at single experimental hives, rarely, if ever, addressing the effect of drones' genetic origin. Here, Radio Frequency Identification Technology was utilised to gather drone and worker bee lifetime data of Apis mellifera mellifera and Apis mellifera x (hybrid Buckfast) colonies over one mating season (spring and summer) with the ultimate goal to investigate differences at subspecies level. This technique enabled continuous monitoring of tagged bees at the hive entrance and recording of individuals' movement directions. The results confirmed that spring-born drones survive longer than summer-born drones and that they generally live longer than worker bees. Drones' peak activity occurred in the afternoon while worker bees showed more even activity levels throughout the day. Earlier orientation flights than usually reported for drones were observed. In summer, mating flights were practiced before reaching sexual maturity (at 12 days of age). Differences were found between Apis m. mellifera and Buckfast drones, where Apis m. mellifera showed later drone production in spring, but significantly earlier first activities outside the hive in summer and a later peak in diurnal activity. Additionally, Apis m. mellifera flew more in higher light intensities and windy conditions and performed significantly longer flights than Buckfast drones. The observed differences in drone ecology indicate the existence of a local adaptation of the native subspecies Apis m. mellifera to environmental conditions in southwestern Sweden.
雄蜂的唯一已知任务是与处女蜂王交配。除了它们的交配行为，它们的生态学很少被研究，尤其是与雌性蜜蜂相比。以前的知识主要基于在单个实验蜂巢进行的短期直接观察，很少（如果有）涉及雄蜂遗传起源的影响。在这里，射频识别技术被用于收集一个繁殖季节（春季和夏季）中 Apis mellifera mellifera 和 Apis mellifera x（杂交 Buckfast）蜂群的雄蜂和工蜂的终生数据，最终目的是调查亚种水平的差异。这项技术使我们能够在蜂巢入口处对标记蜜蜂进行连续监测，并记录个体的移动方向。结果证实，春季出生的雄蜂比夏季出生的雄蜂存活时间更长，而且它们通常比工蜂寿命更长。雄蜂的活动高峰期出现在下午，而工蜂全天的活动水平则更为均匀。与通常报道的雄蜂定向飞行相比，我们观察到了更早的定向飞行。在夏季，交配飞行在达到性成熟（12 日龄）之前就开始进行。在 Apis m. mellifera 和 Buckfast 雄蜂之间发现了差异，其中 Apis m. mellifera 在春季雄蜂的产生时间较晚，但在夏季雄蜂首次出巢活动的时间明显更早，白天活动的高峰期也较晚。此外，Apis m. mellifera 在更高的光照强度和有风的条件下飞行更多，飞行时间也明显长于 Buckfast 雄蜂。所观察到的雄蜂生态学差异表明，本地亚种 Apis m. mellifera 对瑞典西南部环境条件存在局部适应。
