INFLUENCE OF AGE OF DRONES ON THE RESULTS OF INSTRUMENTAL INSEMINATION OF HONEYBEE QUEENS

Abstract

Altogether 142 queens were inseminated with 8 mm’ of semen of drones two to nine weeks old. Inseminated queens were caged in bee colonies. They were killed and investigated 48 hrs later. As the age of drones increased, mostly a lower number of spermatozoa entered the spermatheca of queens. With the increasing age of drones, the percentage of queens with residue of semen in oviducts increased, from 0-14 % in those inseminated with semen of drones two weeks old, to 43 %-67 % in those inseminated with semen of four week-old drones. Variations occurred in different seasons. Queens which cannot clear their oviducts from the injected semen would die.