A laboratory hive for frequent collection of honeybee eggs

Abstract

We describe a hive design that allows frequent collection of eggs of a defined age with only slight disturbance of the worker bees or the queen. The hive may be operated in the bee yard or in a flight room, and has proven to provide a steady supply of eggs throughout the year. The eggs are placed on small wax-coated plastic cell bases serving as removable bottoms of normal worker cells and are collected without opening the hive. This also makes the eggs more accessible for laboratory manipulation compared to eggs deposited in ordinary frames. © 1995.