Effect of restraining and CO2 treatment on oogenesis, vitellogenesis, and cuticular hydrocarbons in Apis mellifera queens.

• Grant number: 09/17218-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2010
• End date: April 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Carminda da Cruz-Landim
• Grantee: Bruno Berger
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The productivity of beekeeping depends primarily on the queen's egg laying capacity, and consequently the production of workers, as they perform the tasks of food collection, nest construction, brood and queen care. Thus, factors that promote the good functioning of the queen's ovaries are crucial and depend on the colony conditions, which affect the queen's physiology. The recognition of the queen and her physiological condition by workers is also important, as they encourage workers to tend the queen. Based on the current knowledge on the factors that promote egg production in A. mellifera queens, the effect of carbon dioxide on their performance, and beekeeping techniques for the maintenance of queens require some clarification. Regarding the maintenance of queens, some evidence suggest that the restraining and artificial insemination of virgin queens, sometimes used by beekeepers, alters the pattern of cuticular compounds that are important for queen recognition by workers. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the effect of carbon dioxide and different beekeeping techniques on the ovarian development of A. mellifera queens and the pattern of cuticlar compounds. Experiments using CO2 and beekeeping techniques will be conducted at the apiary of the Dept. Of Biology of Unesp-Rio Claro-SP. Bees will be later dissected and ovaries will be removed, fixed and processed for morphological analysis and prepared for biochemical analysis of vitelogenin levels. To determine the cuticular compounds, wings of bees from which the ovaries were removed will be used. The objective of this study is to contribute for the understanding of the effects of narcosis and beekeeping techniques on the development of artificially treated queens.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BERGER, BRUNO; POIANI, SILVANA BEANI; DA CRUZ-LANDIM, CARMINDA. Beekeeping practice: effects of Apis mellifera virgin queen management on ovary development. Apidologie, v. 47, n. 4, p. 589-595, JUL 2016. (09/17218-3)

BERGER, BRUNO; POIANI, SILVANA B.; ROAT, THAISA C.; DA CRUZ-LANDIM, CARMINDA. OVARY DEVELOPMENT IN HONEYBEE (APIS MELLIFERA L.) WORKERS UNDER CO2 NARCOSIS, CAGED OUTSIDE OF THE COLONY. JOURNAL OF APICULTURAL SCIENCE, v. 59, n. 1, p. 51-58, JUN 2015. (09/17218-3)