Rearing honey bees, Apis mellifera, in vitro 1: Effects of sugar concentrations on survival and development
1School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. 85287-4501, USA
2Present Address: Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 225 Leidy Laboratories, 433 South University
Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19104-6018
Abstract
A new method for rearing honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), in vitro was developed and the effects of sugar concentrations on survival and development were studied. Seven different glucose (G) and fructose (F) compositions (0%G+0%F, 3%G+3%F, 6%G+6%F, 12%G+12%F, 0%G+12%F, 12%G+0%F, and 4%G+8%F) were tested. Larvae were able to grow to the post defecation stage without addition of sugars (Diet 1), but they were not able to metamorphose and pupate. Adults were reared from diets 2-7. The average larval survival, prepupal larval weights, adult weights, and ovariole numbers were affected significantly due to the sugar compositions in the diets. High sugar concentrations (12%G+12%F) increased the number of queens and intercastes.
Keywords: larval development, live weights, ovarioles, carbohydrate
Correspondence:
a* osman.kaftanoglu@asu.edu,
b tlinks@sas.upenn.edu,
c Robert.Page@asu.edu, *Corresponding author
Editor: Allen Cohen was editor of this paper.
Received: 15 July 2010 | Accepted: 7 December 2010 | Published: 27 July 2011
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 96
Kaftanoglu O, Linksvayer TA, Page RE. 2011. Rearing honey bees, Apis mellifera, in vitro 1: Effects of sugar concentrations on survival and development. Journal of Insect Science 11:96 available online: insectscience.org/11.96
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