How do bees make sure the queen bee stays healthy?

Introduction

The health of the queen bee is crucial for the survival and productivity of a honey bee colony. The queen is the sole reproductive female in the colony, and her ability to produce a large number of offspring directly impacts the colony's success. Various factors, including environmental stressors, diseases, and the microbial community, play significant roles in maintaining the queen's health.

Key Insights

Impact of Pesticides on Queen Health:
- Exposure to pesticides during queen development significantly lowers egg-laying rates and worker retinue size, indicating reduced queen health and attractiveness to workers.
- Pesticide contamination in the queen-rearing wax affects queen physiology and behavior, leading to fewer eggs laid and altered pheromone profiles, which workers can detect.
Quality of Queen Bees:
- The method of queen rearing impacts queen quality. Queens raised in healthy, well-nourished colonies are larger and have better reproductive capabilities.
- Queens raised with adequate nectar and pollen during the breeding process are of higher quality, showing better egg production and overall health.
Diseases and Queen Health:
- Diseases and parasites negatively impact queen health, which in turn affects colony health. There is a need for more research on the interaction between queen health and disease to mitigate these effects.
Microbial Community:
- The honey bee queen's digestive tract is predominantly colonized by the acetic acid bacterium Parasaccharibacter apium, which may provide benefits such as survival in royal jelly and defense against pathogens.

Conclusion

The health of the queen bee is influenced by multiple factors, including pesticide exposure, the method of rearing, diseases, and the microbial community within her digestive tract. Ensuring a pesticide-free environment, providing adequate nutrition, and understanding the role of microbial communities are essential steps in maintaining the queen's health and, consequently, the overall health and productivity of the bee colony.

How do bees make sure the queen bee stays healthy?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Queen honey bee (Apis mellifera) pheromone and reproductive behavior are affected by pesticide exposure during development

Pesticide exposure during queen development significantly lowers egg-laying rate and worker retinue size, impacting honey bee health and colony productivity.

THE QUALITY OF BEE QUEENS OBTAINED BY DIFFERENT METHODS

The quality of honeybee queens is crucial for their viability and productivity, and the best method for obtaining them is through healthy, physiologically complete bee colonies.

Queen Quality and the Impact of Honey Bee Diseases on Queen Health: Potential for Interactions between Two Major Threats to Colony Health

Understanding the interaction between honey bee diseases and queen health is crucial for ensuring colony health and mitigating disease-related colony declines.

Genomic Signatures of Honey Bee Association in an Acetic Acid Symbiont

Honey bee queens' gut microbiota may provide benefits, such as surviving in royal jelly and defending against mobile elements, that could contribute to their health and productivity.

Colony Failure Linked to Low Sperm Viability in Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Queens and an Exploration of Potential Causative Factors

Low sperm viability in honey bee queens is linked to colony performance, with temperature extremes during shipment potentially being a contributing factor.

Honey bee queen health is unaffected by contact exposure to pesticides commonly found in beeswax

Topical exposure to common pesticides in beeswax does not directly impact honey bee queen health, suggesting that previous associations with queen failure are likely driven by indirect effects of worker exposure on queen care or perception.

Neonicotinoid pesticides severely affect honey bee queens

Exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides during development can severely affect honey bee queens, affecting reproductive anatomy and physiology, potentially reducing their success in maintaining bee colonies.

Imidacloprid Induces Histopathological Damage in the Midgut, Ovary, and Spermathecal Stored Spermatozoa of Queens After Chronic Colony Exposure

Imidacloprid exposure in honey bee colonies may cause damage to essential organs, potentially affecting colony development and reproductive success.

Sub-lethal effects of dietary neonicotinoid insecticide exposure on honey bee queen fecundity and colony development

Dietary neonicotinoid insecticide exposure negatively affects honey bee queen fecundity and colony development, with larger colonies acting as a buffer to pesticide exposure.

Honey Bee Queens and Virus Infections

Viruses can negatively impact honey bee queen health and reproductive vigor, but current research on their pathogenicity and impact is limited due to methodological issues and practical problems.

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