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Offline hydrocynus

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requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« on: March 21, 2022, 01:55:33 pm »
Hello,
I will be re-queening half of my apiary (about 20 hives) with queens of known genetics as my bees are mostly Africanized in Florida (I did a bee venation study and these will likely be confirmed after the samples are analyzed using genetic markers). Because of the large number of hives I have, I will be getting queen cells. I do understand that only my drones will get the queen's genetics and that the rest will be based on luck depending on the genetics in the DCAs around me. But, that is a first step. I do not have the cash to replace so many queens with mated queens.

What is the best way to proceed? I know when I will be getting those queen cells (two weeks from today). Should I use one or two cells per colony? When do I need to kill the queen... actually, I was thinking caging the queen with s 3-4 attendants and make sure they are fed and hydrated especially until I am sure that I have a new laying queen in my hives. Or, should I incubate the queen cells (I can make a queen incubator as I have all the parts needed.

Thanks for your help!

Offline TheHoneyPump

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requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2022, 05:54:58 pm »
Some thoughts.  Take what you like.  Leave what you dont. 

If your goal is to change-out genetics.  Particularly aggressive africanized genetics. Then you MUST use mated queens from a known source.  Reason they must come mated is because the aggressive genes are traced to be transmitted by the drones. If you use cells, then you are adding in the likelihood that the emerged virgin queens may mate with africanized drones in your area. You will have gained nothing by way of genetical improvement, while having lost time and effort and hive production doing so.
Therefore, please revisit your budget and spread out the spend so you can get those replacements as mated queens. For example Break up the cost by replacing fewer at a time. Pick a number to do each month and go month to month until they are all done.
Before getting started go through the hives and rank them on a 1 to 5 scale on how aggressive each hive is. The scale is entirely subjective to you so no need to go looking for a standard.  This is so you can plan out which queens to replace first and so on from nastiest to tolerable.
After a queen is established it will take about 6 weeks for the transformation in the behaviour of the hive. Though you will start noticing real improvements at 3 to 4 weeks.
For near 100% acceptance of new queen introductions look into the press-in cage method.  For a really nasty hive, what I would do is leave her on the cage with cork plug. Do not allow mean bees access to a candy release.  Kill the mean queen and drop the carcass in the hive. Do not keep her as backup. Your whole point in doing this is to get rid of her traits. So off her. Mush her good. Place the new queen caged in the centre of the hive. Leave her caged in the hive for 4 days. On the 5th day go through the hive thoroughly search and destroy all queen e-cells, AND looking for eggs so you can find and kill that second rogue queen too. Yes, you read that right, it happens. While doing that select a decent comb of newly emerging brood. Setup the new queen under a push cage on that frame then put the hive back together.  On the 8th again go through the hive thoroughly to seek and destroy queen e-cells.  Check that the new queen is ok under the push cage and she may even have some new eggs laid.  On day 12 and every 3 days beyond continue checking and destroying cells while also checking for signs of acceptance to decide when it is safe to remove the push cage and let her roam.

I hope that helps.  In some way.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2022, 06:33:37 pm by TheHoneyPump »
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

Offline TheHoneyPump

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requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2022, 06:25:52 pm »
If you are insistent on using cells, then the advice would be to:
1. break up the hives, starting with the meanest, into nucs and move the nucs to a different beeyard at least 2 miles away. Make up 40% more nucs than the number of queens you need at the end of it, as there will be losses and failures that need to be accounted for.
2. Place one cell in each nuc, with a cell protector.  Place the cells within the time window of 2 hours to 24 hours from when the nuc was made. 
3. Leave the nucs alone, completely undisturbed, for 18 to 20 days. Then go check them.  Look for a) did the cell emerge properly.  b) are there fresh eggs.  If there are eggs but the cell did not emerge properly then kill the queen you find because she was raised from the original mean hive brood that was put into the nuc.
4. Collect and cage the queens you are happy with. Leave the others in their nucs or bank them as backups.  Recombine the now queenless nucs bees and resources into the main hives.
5. Go requeen the meanest hives with the new queens using the push-in method outlined above.
6. Sell the leftovers as nucs or as caged queens.
It will take 8 weeks after introduction of the new mated queen to the main hive to fully know if she got bopped by mean drones or gentle drones when she mated. Kill the mean ones and do it all over again.

The main point being is: cells may seem cheap but they present alot of extra work, require sacrificing some hives to get bees and resources to make nucs, takes an extended timeline, and introduce the risk of not accomplishing your goal of changing the genetics.
Unless you are already setup at raising your own queens and have a selection program in place; there is no advantage to cells and going with mated queens is the right decision path to success for the case you described. 

Hope that helps!
« Last Edit: March 22, 2022, 07:03:45 pm by TheHoneyPump »
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

Offline The15thMember

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2022, 10:10:17 pm »
I've got a curiosity question, HP.
Kill the mean queen and drop the carcass in the hive.
Why do you specify to leave the dead queen in the hive?   
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Offline TheHoneyPump

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2022, 12:13:16 am »
That is just what we do, always done. Kill and move on. What else would we do with 10-100-1000 dead queens? Pockets soon get pretty gross if keeping them all.
When she is dropped in the hive, the bees soon know within minutes that shes dead and a ball of bees will reconstitute (cannibalise) what they can from her carcass. I have no observation evidence to support if new queen acceptance is better, though some folks claim so.
If she is tossed in the grass, pretty much the same thing happens. A ball of bees soon pile on and do the same out there. Takes the hive a bit longer (hour or two) to realize they are queen-less.
If one wants to save the carcass for the dead animal farm collection, go for it.
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

Offline The15thMember

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2022, 12:17:35 am »
That is just what we do, always done. Kill and move on. What else would we do with 10-100-1000 dead queens? Pockets soon get pretty gross if keeping them all.
When she is dropped in the hive, the bees soon know within minutes that shes dead and a ball of bees will reconstitute (cannibalise) what they can from her carcass. I have no observation evidence to support if new queen acceptance is better, though some folks claim so.
If she is tossed in the grass, pretty much the same thing happens. A ball of bees soon pile on and do the same out there. Takes the hive a bit longer (hour or two) to realize they are queen-less.
If one wants to save the carcass for the dead animal farm collection, go for it.
Thanks, I understand.  I was wondering about the difference between in the hive and out of the hive. 
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2022, 03:36:44 pm »
You can find the old queens if you like.  Or just put the cells in.  If you want the best take, remove the old queen.  Next best, put the cells above an excluder with the queen below,, or if you don't know where she is, put the queen cell in the brood nest, where it is more likely to be kept warm etc.  Without finding the old queen acceptance is probably going to run about 80% or so.  Finding the old queens first and removing her it will likely run more like 90%.  Nothing is 100%...
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Offline jwchitwood

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #7 on: May 29, 2022, 06:56:07 pm »
Realizing you have long been done with your changeover.  I wanted to share my experience for posterity.  When re-queening a hive with an attitude problem.  I like to cage the queen for a week prior to introducing a queen (mated or unmated) or cells.  This makes sure that the hive has no eggs to raise a queen with the offending genetics. 

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2022, 11:18:55 am »
Posted by: TheHoneyPump
<<on: March 23, 2022, 12:13:16 am >>

"Some thoughts.  Take what you like.  Leave what you dont." 

"If your goal is to change-out genetics.  Particularly aggressive africanized genetics. Then you MUST use mated queens from a known source.  Reason they must come mated is because the aggressive genes are traced to be transmitted by the drones."



✔️ Agreed

Phillip
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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2022, 07:26:57 am »
I have often fixed a hot hive simply by offing the queen and letting them raise a new one.  So I don't agree.  The circumstances that cause a hot hive are more complex than just genetics.  I have often requeened a hot hive and they were perfectly behaved a week later.
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Offline Ben Framed

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #10 on: July 12, 2022, 08:22:32 am »
Posted by: hydrocynus
<<on: March 21, 2022, 01:55:33 pm>>
Quote
Hello,
I will be re-queening half of my apiary (about 20 hives) with queens of known genetics as my bees are mostly Africanized in Florida.

Posted by: TheHoneyPump
<<on: March 23, 2022, 12:13:16 am >>

"Some thoughts.  Take what you like.  Leave what you dont." 

"If your goal is to change-out genetics.  Particularly aggressive africanized genetics. Then you MUST use mated queens from a known source.  Reason they must come mated is because the aggressive genes are traced to be transmitted by the drones."


Posted by: Ben Framed
<<Reply #8 on: July 10, 2022, 11:18:55 am >>

✔️ Agreed

Phillip






I have often fixed a hot hive simply by offing the queen and letting them raise a new one.  So I don't agree.  The circumstances that cause a hot hive are more complex than just genetics.  I have often requeened a hot hive and they were perfectly behaved a week later.

The situation described by hydrocynus is not simply genetics, but 'Africanized' genetics influenced by 'location' of "mostly Africanized bees". The complication of having both genetics intertwined by location must, 'or should be' considered in this case. In your location where there 'is not' the dominancy of "mostly Africanized bees", (but simply an occasionally hot hive), your method will work most or many times, no debate there. In hydrocynus 'location' of heavily influenced africanized bees, equaling heavily numbers of africanized drones, your method might be more prone to hit or miss, most likely miss. From my understanding hit or miss is not the goal of hydrocynus   but a change in genetics.

Even still; From what I understand, introducing European queens into an africanized hive is no simple matter and certainly no guarantee. These queens are often rejected or soon superseded.

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Online Michael Bush

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2022, 08:54:59 am »
I have worked many "Africanized" hives that were quite workable.  I have seen F1 hybrids between European and Africanized that were vicious and unworkable.  I think bringing in European stock is a bigger risk than keeping the Africanized stock.  If they are hot, requeen.  But local stock will avoid those vicious F1 hybrids.
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Offline Ben Framed

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2022, 04:53:29 pm »





In the early 2000s, African honey bees established a wild population in Florida. Since that time, state officials have had to deal with an increased potential for risk to the public and the agriculture industry. In response, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Division of Plant Industry (DPI), Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection generated Best Management Practices for Maintaining European Honey Bee Colonies (BMPs), a voluntary agreement between Florida beekeepers and state officials that outlines specific practices beekeepers can implement in order to keep the spread of African honey bees from negatively affecting their colonies, the agriculture industry, and the general public. If a negative interaction between African honey bees and humans does occur, the BMPs serve as a potential buffer between Florida beekeepers and a possible lawsuit.
This document serves to outline the twelve recommendations listed in the BMPs, and give an explanation for each one.

3. Honey bee colony divisions or splits should be queened with production queens or queen cells from European honey bee breeder queens following Florida's Best
Management Practices.


The goal of requeening is to maintain manageable colonies that are not a threat to beekeepers or other members of the community. It is vital that beekeepers ensure that any new queen introduced into a colony is of manageable European stock. New queens should be purchased from breeders; beekeepers are discouraged from allowing colonies to produce their own queens. Even if colonies are certified as European honey bee, the density of African bees in some areas of Florida (particularly southern Florida) is such that if a virgin queen emerges, she has a high probability of mating with an African honey bee drone. To purchase a production queen, beekeepers should buy a queen from a Florida breeder that follows Floridas BMPs for queen breeders (also available on the web at http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/plantinsp/apiary/ apiary.html), or buy a queen from a part of the country where African honey bees have not permeated.


8. Recommend re-queening with European stock every six months unless using
marked or clipped queens and having in possession a bill of sale from an European honey bee queen producer.


Multiple studies have shown that the average queen in managed bee colonies may last from 6 to 8 months. To ensure that the colony's queen is the
same one that the beekeeper introduced, it is necessary to replace the queen about every six months. However, if a beekeeper maintains a clipped and marked queen, and the queen survives longer than 6 months, it will be easy to identify her as the queen introduced by the beekeeper, and it will not be necessary to re-queen as often. So, the queen does not need to be replaced at 6 month intervals unless she is unclipped and/or unmarked. Beekeepers should consider purchasing queens from queen breeders who are following the FDACS-DPI Queen Breeder
BMPs.

9. Immediately re-queen with a European queen if previously installed clipped or marked queen is found missing.

If the clipped/marked queen is missing, the bees will begin to rear a new queen. When this virgin queen emerges, she will begin her mating flight and will mate with several drones from the area. African honey bees produce a much higher proportion of drones than do European bees. When a virgin European queen conducts a mating flight in an area where African bees may be present in the feral environment, she has a very high likelihood of encountering and mating with African drones. As a result, it is important that beekeepers do not allow their bees to rear queens but replace an old or missing queen with a European clipped/marked queen.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2022, 09:29:55 pm by Ben Framed »
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2022, 09:37:53 pm »
Ben,
All beekeepers in FL have to sing the BMP. In reality these rules are pretty mandatory for beekeepers that are south of the I-4 corridor. That being said, I know several beekeepers down south that do not follow these guidelines and haven?t had any problems. In the north we really don?t have a problem with Africanized bees and these rules don?t help.
Jim Altmiller
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Offline Ben Framed

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2022, 10:18:41 pm »
Ben,
All beekeepers in FL have to sing the BMP. In reality these rules are pretty mandatory for beekeepers that are south of the I-4 corridor. That being said, I know several beekeepers down south that do not follow these guidelines and haven?t had any problems. In the north we really don?t have a problem with Africanized bees and these rules don?t help.
Jim Altmiller


Jim I confess I know nothing of the rules of the BMP.  I would not think these findings and suggestions by the University Of Florida would have bearing or concern in your area (unless some law has been passed otherwise)?  Just as these suggestions have no bearing or concern in my area of Mississippi zone 7. Thank Goodness! :) Neither of us are in an area with "mostly Africanized bees" or at least in an area of bees showing the super aggressive behavior that is associated in 'killer bees'. Some beekeepers in the areas which are effected, may very well ignore the findings 'suggested' and 'published' by the University of Florida which perhaps, leave the possibility of hit or miss results and success?  (Not the goal of the Original Poster)
 
Adding: The 'suggestion'by the U of F to "purchase a production queen, beekeepers should buy a queen from a Florida breeder that follows Floridas BMPs for queen breeders" was only one 'helpful suggestion', as it went on the say: "Or buy a queen from a 'part of the country' where African honey bees have not permeated."

In my opinion the subject matter of this topic along with questions by the OP by (hydrocynus), were answered with honest opinions and sincere suggestions, by 'each' poster on this topic in effort to help hydrocynus with his concerns and questions related to his 'specific needs' in his 'specific location' and 'specific situation'.

One suggestion by TheHoneyPump which seems to coincide with the findings of the published papers, by The University of Florida. (If I understood the contents correctly), confirm the accuracy of TheHoneyPumps' suggestion in relation to that which was 'disputed'?

Phillip


hydrocynus concerns in his Original Post.. 
Hello,
I will be re-queening half of my apiary (about 20 hives) with queens of known genetics as my bees are mostly Africanized in Florida (I did a bee venation study and these will likely be confirmed after the samples are analyzed using genetic markers). Because of the large number of hives I have, I will be getting queen cells. I do understand that only my drones will get the queen's genetics and that the rest will be based on luck depending on the genetics in the DCAs around me. But, that is a first step. I do not have the cash to replace so many queens with mated queens.

What is the best way to proceed? I know when I will be getting those queen cells (two weeks from today). Should I use one or two cells per colony? When do I need to kill the queen... actually, I was thinking caging the queen with s 3-4 attendants and make sure they are fed and hydrated especially until I am sure that I have a new laying queen in my hives. Or, should I incubate the queen cells (I can make a queen incubator as I have all the parts needed.

Thanks for your help!

« Last Edit: July 13, 2022, 11:11:40 am by Ben Framed »
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14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2022, 08:54:06 am »
I know the policy in Florida.  But I think it's dangerous.  The F1 hybrids are the vicious ones and the odds increase the more you keep bringing in the European bees to try to keep them pure European.  They keep crossing with the AHB and make those vicious dangerous bees.
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Offline Ben Framed

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2022, 10:11:35 am »
Posted by: Michale Bush
<<Reply #15 on: Today at 08:54:06 am >>
>I know the policy in Florida.  But I think it's dangerous.  The F1 hybrids are the vicious ones and the odds increase the more you keep bringing in the European bees to try to keep them pure European.  They keep crossing with the AHB and make those vicious dangerous bees.

Again Mr Bush, I must respectably disagree. That concern was a shared, and great concern back in the day and rightfully so! Fortunately years of evolution of this bee and research has proven otherwise somewhat relieving that concern, thus the recommendations of the U of F.

Even as far back as 1991 the opposite was being recognized when Northern progression and expansion of Africanized bees met the 'heavily influx' of European honey bees in the Yucatan.  I will post the following, which was a promising article from 31 years ago which may help explain the slowing down, or expansion, of the lack of the awful aggressive killer bee behavior and traits associated with the once F1 super aggressive behavior as they have progressed Northward into heavily inflexed European bees in Florida. 

Hybridization Between European and Africanized Honey Bees in the Neotropical Yucatan Peninsula
SCIENCE
19 Jul 1991
Vol 253, Issue 5017
pp. 309-311

A population genetic analysis of honey bees of the Mexican neotropical Yucatan peninsula shows that the range expansion of Africanized bees there has involved extensive introgressive hybridization with European bees. Yucatan honey bee populations now include many colonies with intermediate morphologies. Genotypes of mitochondria have disassociated from historically correlated Africanized or European morphology, producing diverse phenotypic associations. This suggests that the size of resident European populations may be important in explaining previously reported asymmetrical hybridization. Evidence of natural hybridization is encouraging for the use of genetic management to mitigate the effects of Africanized bees in the United States.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2022, 11:13:08 am by Ben Framed »
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14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2022, 10:17:21 am »
I am posting even more encouragement which seems to support the findings and recommendations 'of and by' the University of Florida and its years of extensive research on this matter:

From: Science Daily. 
Credits are at the bottom You might find this both interesting, informative and hopeful!

Genomic study explores evolution of gentle 'killer bees' in Puerto Rico
Date:
November 16, 2017
Source:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Summary:
A study of Puerto Rico's Africanized honey bees -- which are more docile than other so-called 'killer bees' -- shows they retain most of the genetic traits of their African honey bee ancestors, but that a few regions of their DNA have become more like those of European honey bees. These changes likely contributed to the bees' rapid evolution toward gentleness in Puerto Rico, a change that occurred within 30 years, and could spell hope for beekeeping in North America.
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A genomic study of Puerto Rico's Africanized honey bees -- which are more docile than other so-called "killer bees" -- reveals that they retain most of the genetic traits of their African honey bee ancestors, but that a few regions of their DNA have become more like those of European honey bees. According to the researchers, these changes likely contributed to the bees' rapid evolution toward gentleness in Puerto Rico, a change that occurred within 30 years.

The findings, reported in the journal Nature Communications, could lead to advances that will bolster honey bee populations in the Americas, the researchers said.

Africanized bees are the offspring of African honey bees and their European counterparts. In the late 1950s, these aggressive "killer bees" escaped from an experimental breeding program in Brazil. That program had set out to produce a desirable mix of traits from the gentle European bees and their African counterparts, which were more aggressive, disease-resistant and adapted to a tropical climate.

Ironically, what scientists failed to do in the laboratory was eventually accomplished by happenstance. Africanized honey bees arrived in Puerto Rico (most likely on a ship, by accident) in the 1990s, and within three decades had evolved into the gentle, yet hardy, Africanized bees that dominate the island today. Biology professor Tugrul Giray, of the University of Puerto Rico, first reported on the gentle Puerto Rican bees in the journal Evolutionary Applications in 2012. Giray is a co-author of the new study.

To gain insight into how the bees became gentle, the researchers sequenced the genomes of 30 gentle Puerto Rican bees, 30 Africanized bees from Mexico and 30 European honey bees from central Illinois.

"The benefit of having these three populations is that you can compare and contrast between the three," said University of Illinois postdoctoral researcher Arian Avalos, who conducted the research with U. of I. entomology professor Gene Robinson; crop sciences professor Matthew Hudson; and Guojie Zhang and Hailin Pan, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "We asked, 'How is the genome of the gentle Africanized bee different than other Africanized populations? What parts of the genome are similar to European bees?'"

The team discovered that, for the most part, the genomes of the gentle bees resembled those of their Africanized forebears. Specific regions of the DNA, however, had shifted in the gentle bees, reflecting more of their European heritage. These regions appeared to be under "positive selection." This means that something in the bees' environment was favoring these genetic signatures over others.

The scientists hypothesize that the bees evolved to be more docile as a result of living on a very densely populated island from which they could not easily escape. Humans likely eradicated the most aggressive bees, aiding their more docile counterparts.

"Evolution involves changes in the frequency of gene variants across a population, and that's what we're seeing in Puerto Rico," said Robinson, who directs the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois. "Now we know that these gentle Africanized bees can be genetically distinguished both from other Africanized honey bees and from European honey bees."

The new findings offer a bit of hope for the beleaguered beekeeping industry, the researchers said. European honey bees tend to have less genetic diversity than Africanized bees, which carry both European and African honey bee genes. European honey bees also are more susceptible to a host of debilitating parasites and pathogens. Their rapid decline since 2005, a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, is disrupting agriculture around the world.

"The fact that we've shown that the genetics of these Puerto Rican bees are very distinct from the European bees, and the fact that they are demonstrably gentle, makes it very interesting as a potential way to mitigate pollinator decline," Hudson said.

In particular, the Africanized bees are highly resistant to the varroa mite, a parasite of bees that undermines their health and spreads disease. The mites -- along with pesticides used to treat infested bees -- are believed to be major factors in the widespread decline of honey bees across the globe.

In previous research in the Giray laboratory, scientists showed that Puerto Rico's gentle Africanized bees groom themselves aggressively when infested with varroa, removing the mites almost as soon as they appear.

"Infestation of European honey bees with the mites elicits very little response," said Avalos, who previously worked with Giray in Puerto Rico. "This could be good news for beekeepers who want to develop a gentle honey bee that is also varroa-resistant."

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Original written by Diana Yates. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Arian Avalos, Hailin Pan, Cai Li, Jenny P. Acevedo-Gonzalez, Gloria Rendon, Christopher J. Fields, Patrick J. Brown, Tugrul Giray, Gene E. Robinson, Matthew E. Hudson, Guojie Zhang. A soft selective sweep during rapid evolution of gentle behaviour in an Africanized honeybee. Nature Communications, 2017; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01800-0
« Last Edit: July 13, 2022, 10:49:47 am by Ben Framed »
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2022, 11:29:30 am »
So in Puerto Rico they have simply selected their way from mean bees to nice bees... exactly what I recommend.  Mean bees should not be tolerated.


« Last Edit: July 13, 2022, 11:48:23 am by Ben Framed »
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Offline Ben Framed

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Re: requeening many queen right hives using queen cells
« Reply #19 on: July 13, 2022, 11:49:00 am »
>So in Puerto Rico they have simply selected their way from mean bees to nice bees... exactly what I recommend.  Mean bees should not be tolerated.


Mean bees with the heavily influence of already present docile European honey bees. Thus the recommendations of University of Florida. Mean bees should not be tolerated, on this we agree.  :grin:

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

 

anything