Varroa Sensitive Hygiene and Mite Reproduction

The USDA-ARS Baton Rouge Bee Lab has bred bees that hygienically remove mite-infested pupae from capped worker brood. This ability is called varroa sensitive hygiene, and bees expressing high levels of this behavior are called VSH bees. To select for the VSH trait in your bees, also see Selecting for Varroa Sensitive Hygiene

Figure 1. Hygienic removal of a mite infested worker pupa by adult worker honey bees is an important mechanism of resistance to varroa mites. The removal involves

Breeding Bees for Resistance to Parasites and Diseases

 

Managed Pollinator Coordinated Agriculture Program (CAP) Updates

A National Research and Extension Initiative to Reverse Pollinator Decline

This is part of an ongoing series of updates from the Managed Pollinator CAP. Additional installments can be found at the:

CAP Updates Table of Contents

More information about the CAP can be found at:

http://www.beeccdcap.uga.edu

 

CAP Updates: 9

Greg Hunt, Purdue University

Those of you who have been …

Instrumental Insemination of Honey Bee Queens

Instrumental Insemination of Honey Bee Queens

Diagram of honey bee queen insemination from Sue Cobey’s fact sheet, “Insemination of the Queen”

 

Insemination Techniques

  1. Eversion of the Honey Bee Drone Endophallus for Insemination
  2. Semen Collection for Artificial Insemination in Honey Bees
    1. Saline Recipe
  3. Insemination of the Honey Bee Queen
  4. Field Dissection of the Honey Bee Queen Spermatheca

UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey with a frame of banked queens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology)

 

Saline Recipe for Queen Insemination

 

Instrumental Insemination of Honey Bee Queens

 

Diagram of honey bee queen insemination from Sue Cobey’s fact sheet, “Insemination of the Queen”


 

Insemination Techniques

  1. Eversion of the Honey Bee Drone Endophallus for Insemination
  2. Semen Collection for Artificial Insemination in Honey Bees
    1. Saline Recipe
  3. Insemination of the Honey Bee Queen
  4. Field Dissection of the Honey Bee Queen Spermatheca

 

UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey with a frame of banked queens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology)


 


These pages

Eversion of the Honey Bee Drone Endophallus for Insemination

 

Instrumental Insemination of Honey Bee Queens

 

Diagram of honey bee queen insemination from Sue Cobey’s fact sheet, “Insemination of the Queen”


 

Insemination Techniques

  1. Eversion of the Honey Bee Drone Endophallus for Insemination
  2. Semen Collection for Artificial Insemination in Honey Bees
    1. Saline Recipe
  3. Insemination of the Honey Bee Queen
  4. Field Dissection of the Honey Bee Queen Spermatheca

 

UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey with a frame of banked queens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology)


 


These pages

Semen Collection for Artificial Insemination in Honey Bees

 

Instrumental Insemination of Honey Bee Queens

 

Diagram of honey bee queen insemination from Sue Cobey’s fact sheet, “Insemination of the Queen”


 

Insemination Techniques

  1. Eversion of the Honey Bee Drone Endophallus for Insemination
  2. Semen Collection for Artificial Insemination in Honey Bees
    1. Saline Recipe
  3. Insemination of the Honey Bee Queen
  4. Field Dissection of the Honey Bee Queen Spermatheca

 

UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey with a frame of banked queens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology)


 


These pages

Insemination of the Honey Bee Queen

 

Instrumental Insemination of Honey Bee Queens

 

Diagram of honey bee queen insemination from Sue Cobey’s fact sheet, “Insemination of the Queen”


 

Insemination Techniques

  1. Eversion of the Honey Bee Drone Endophallus for Insemination
  2. Semen Collection for Artificial Insemination in Honey Bees
    1. Saline Recipe
  3. Insemination of the Honey Bee Queen
  4. Field Dissection of the Honey Bee Queen Spermatheca

 

UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey with a frame of banked queens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology)


 


These pages

Field Dissection of the Honey Bee Queen Spermatheca

 

Instrumental Insemination of Honey Bee Queens

 

Diagram of honey bee queen insemination from Sue Cobey’s fact sheet, “Insemination of the Queen”


 

Insemination Techniques

  1. Eversion of the Honey Bee Drone Endophallus for Insemination
  2. Semen Collection for Artificial Insemination in Honey Bees
    1. Saline Recipe
  3. Insemination of the Honey Bee Queen
  4. Field Dissection of the Honey Bee Queen Spermatheca

 

UC Davis bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey with a frame of banked queens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology)


 


These pages

Testing Honey Bee Colonies for Hygienic Behavior

It is relatively easy to determine if a colony of bees displays hygienic behavior by testing them using one of the methods described below.

  • The methods described here are illustrated in the following poster “Testing for Hygienic Behavior” Download a .pdf here.

Two best methods to test for hygienic behavior

Photo B. A comb section of sealed brood containing approximately 100 cells on each side was cut out of the comb, frozen for at least 24 hours, and replaced in the hole left in the comb.
Photo B. A comb section of sealed brood containing approximately 100 cells on each side was cut out of the comb, frozen for at least 24 hours, and replaced in