mating and Queens

[islayhawk]

In an isolated hive will drones mate successfully with virgin Queens from same hive

 

[B+.]

In an isolated hive will drones mate successfully with virgin Queens from same hive

Yes. That is why island mating stations are used. You take a limited number of drone producing colonies to an island and these are the only mates a queen can find. If there are no other drones available, these are all she can mate with. Of course, the workers she produces would be inbred

 

[Erichalfbee]

And you can instrumentally inseminate a virgin queen with her own drones?......I must admit I found that a bit weird

 

[B+.]

And you can instrumentally inseminate a virgin queen with her own drones?......I must admit I found that a bit weird

I really don't like this idea. Although some things are possible, I don't do them.
I will be doing some sdi (single drone insemnations) as part of the VSH work...but that's about as far as I'd go.

 

[fatshark]

And you can instrumentally inseminate a virgin queen with her own drones?......I must admit I found that a bit weird

Better not read about Varroa then ... very disturbing.

 

[For want of a better word]

In an isolated hive will drones mate successfully with virgin Queens from same hive

The answer is yes.

But as with the isolated mating islands used in the Baltic and similar island sites the gene pool would rapidly become small enough to cause inbreeding problems.
It would appear that this problem is addressed by using different lines of drones, and of course by bringing in different lines of unmated queens...... and of course the number of sex alleles within the isolated colony.

Myttin da

 

[B+.]

But as with the isolated mating islands used in the Baltic and similar island sites the gene pool would rapidly become small enough to cause inbreeding problems.
It would appear that this problem is addressed by using different lines of drones, and of course by bringing in different lines of unmated queens...... and of course the number of sex alleles within the isolated colony.

If there was a stable population on the islands, you'd be right, but this isn't how it works in the wadden sea (off the north coast of Germany and around to the North-West of The Netherlands - https://youtu.be/kyzAS5eZ2xA?t=46m45s). The islands are pretty windy with not much shelter. There is also insufficient forage to support bees year round. Consequently, the island mating stations are only used for about 2 months of the year.
Each year, a different group of drone laying queens (up to 20, depending on the number of virgins expected) is transported to the island (different islands have different groups of drone-laying queens). Each group of drone-laying queens will be daughters of a single mother. We refer to the mother as 4a and the daughter as 1b in the pedigree (http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38689).
The 4a mothers are carefully chosen to provide the best possible mates and are usually 1-2 years older than the 2a mother (i.e. the mother of the virgin queens). So, the careful selection of unrelated drone mothers means that inbreeding depression is not a problem.

 

[B+.]

Better not read about Varroa then ... very disturbing.

Indeed. Although they don't seem to suffer from inbreeding depression as might be expected to occur with other creatures.

 

[wightbees]

I had to read about it, to satisfy my curiosity. Horrible!!

 

[colinc]

I had to read about it, to satisfy my curiosity. Horrible!!

Anyone aware of the mating habits of Weasels? Very disturbing from a human perspective.


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[Erichalfbee]

Not as disturbing as the mating habits of Homo sapiens, I suspect. That might make any weasel shudder

 

[For want of a better word]

Not as disturbing as the mating habits of Homo sapiens, I suspect. That might make any weasel shudder [/QUOT

Some spiders have interesting mating habits... eating their chosen partner as an additional protein snack.

Myttin da

 

[colinc]

Not as disturbing as the mating habits of Homo sapiens, I suspect. That might make any weasel shudder

Take it we are talking Gary, Jimmy and Rolf here as examples.


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[colinc]

Not as disturbing as the mating habits of Homo sapiens, I suspect. That might make any weasel shudder [/QUOT



Some spiders have interesting mating habits... eating their chosen partner as an additional protein snack.



Myttin da

Preying Mantis too...

Not a nice time to have your head bitten off.


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[B+.]

Not a nice time to have your head bitten off.

Is there a good time?