A Scientific note on the occurrence of drone laying workers in queen monitoring cages
2022
Fine, Julia Diane | Litsey, Eliza Mae
Techniques to monitor queen egg production in cages allow researchers to study how different environmental factors contributing to honey bee (Apis mellifera) reproduction. An important aspect of this work is determining whether eggs produced are female (fertilized) or male (unfertilized). Here, we documented that drone laying workers will readily lay eggs in Queen Monitoring Cages (QMC), a specialized cage designed to facilitate queen egg laying under controlled conditions. Egg production and worker mortality were compared between QMCs containing queens and those containing drone laying workers. Images of the latter abdominal segments of first instar larvae hatched from worker laid eggs and those putatively laid by queens were qualitatively compared to identify candidate characteristics to determine their sex.
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