Effects of Temperature During Package Transportation on Queen Establishment and Survival in Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) (Linnaeus) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) queens, the reproductive female caste, are crucial for colony success, and many management problems that beekeepers face are related to their diminished reproductive quality and premature failure. Previous research has suggested that temperature extremes may affect the viability of stored sperm in queens' spermathecae, thus the abiotic conditions of queens during transport may be germane to these problems. We recorded the temperatures experienced by queens during 2 yr of package transportation and tracked the newly installed colonies through establishment and buildup.

Cryptic "royal" subfamilies in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies.

During emergency queen rearing, worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) select several otherwise worker-destined larvae to instead rear as candidates to replace their dead or failing queen. This choice is crucial as the queen is the sole reproductive in the colony and her quality is essential to its success. Because honey bee queens mate with and store sperm from multiple drones, emergency queen selection presents workers with an opportunity to increase fitness by selecting full- (0.