Article
Laying-worker Production of Drones in Mixed Colonies of Africanized and European Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
Annals of the Entomological Society of America
(1986)
Abstract
Queenless honey-bee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) with mixed populations of Africanized and European workers produced 15-fold more Africanized drones than European drones. Drones developed from eggs laid by previously nonreproductive workers. First eclosion of Africanized drones preceded that of European drones by 2.4 days. Laying workers of both bee types developed more rapidly when colonies had Africanized queens and brood before queenlessness than when colonies had European queens and brood. The percentage of European drones of the total number of drones that eclosed each day changed significantly in a curvilinear manner over 15 days, starting near 0, increasing to a high near 8, and then decreasing to near 0.
Keywords
- Apis melifera,
- laying worker,
- arrhenotoky,
- drone,
- Africanized,
- queenless
Disciplines
Publication Date
September, 1986
Publisher Statement
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Citation Information
Richard L Hellmich, Robert G. Danka, Anita M. Collins and Thomas E. Rinderer. "Laying-worker Production of Drones in Mixed Colonies of Africanized and European Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)" Annals of the Entomological Society of America Vol. 79 Iss. 5 (1986) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/richard_hellmich/102/