Did I not read somewhere that drones do not travel that far to mate, some do it within the vicinity of their own apiary and not as high as people think could this be another myth of drones flying miles to mate. Im collecting these myths for a later post.
If drones from outside your varroa-free area come all that way to mate, might they not also visit your colonies and so transfer the mites? Or, might your continued absence of varroa and DWV be an indication that you've not been visited by far-away drones?Originally Posted by Kate Atchley
Kitta
Sounds like you're getting your myths and current scientific knowledge back to front.
That said, drones do tend to travel to closer DCAs while queens head to DCAs at a greater distance from their nest; all to do with energy/refueling requirements:
Mating Biology of Honeybees: Gudrun Koeniger (National Honey Show video)
https://youtu.be/cI26DLS2CyM
for some reason I still can't get videos to show as screen images...probably got a restriction on my account for uploading too many!
Last edited by prakel; 15-09-2015 at 04:43 PM.
Apiary vicinity mating(AVM) is what you're talking about, I think it's limited to Amm strains and is used as a bad weather compromise.
Not one who collects all these documents to be able to quote exactly where I got things from, but...
On a visit to Denmark I recall being told of experiments marking drones to see where they turned up. Their colony loyalty was very poor, and the marked drones were found in colonies at surprising distances from their hives of origin. I remember clearly being told of a marked drone being found in a colony at the quite astonishing distance of 70 kilometres.
I presume it to be no more than an interesting fact of little practical use, and still flood the area round our mating unit with colonies that we see as being 'the right stuff'.
Not sure if this has been linked elsewhere but if not then it should certainly be tied into this thread:
Another press release, with further links:Chemicals in bee semen analysed
The authors used molecular technologies called proteomics to see what kind of chemicals were in the honeybee semen.
They found both a protein that caused the Nosema spore to germinate prematurely preventing infection of the queen bee, and a small molecule that could kill the spore outright.
Separate research by team members also identified the Nosema spores in the honeybee semen.
"Ejaculation is fatal for the male honeybee causing major trauma and tissue damage and allowing contamination by the spores," Dr Baer said.
The new research used florescent dyes to distinguish between live and dead spores, which allowed the authors to quantify what effect the semen had on the spores.
"We found as soon as you present seminal fluid to these spores the spores are killed and the exciting thing is they're killed at a very high proportion," Dr Baer said.
However, he said it was unknown whether bees exposed to the fungus elsewhere in the world have the same antimicrobial molecules in their immune system as the Australian-bred bees.
Australian study reveals the disease fighting powers of bee semen; ABC Rural By Clint Jasper and Stuart Gary
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-2...-semen/7100104
Immune-boosted bee spunk could help hives stay healthy; scimex.org
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/immu...s-stay-healthy
Thanks Prakel. Fascinating and haven't seen this elsewhere though my SBAi following is erratic.
Been studying nosema for my microscopy exam: information about its impact on queens seems confused/even contradictory. If the Australian bees' defences are replicated in our UK bees, this could explain.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks