Development of a film-assisted honeybee egg collection system (FECS)

Abstract

Despite the huge potential of genome editing in honeybee research and breeding programs, only a few successful studies have been reported, implying the presence of several obstacles. One such obstacle is the difficulty in obtaining a large quantity of young eggs. To facilitate the overall procedures for egg collection and microinjection, we developed the film-assisted honeybee egg collection system (FECS), in which a removable transparent film is used as the platform for consecutive collection and injection of embryos. The FECS provides a significantly higher (~ 2-fold) collection efficiency and usability compared with the conventional plug-based queen rearing system while maintaining a high hatching rate. The system can be readily utilized for various studies that require a large number of honeybee eggs, including honeybee genome editing.