Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding
<p>The mating behaviour of honey bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) was studied on the small, beekeeping-free island of the Mörbischer Seefestspiele in Lake Neusiedl, Austria. This island is surrounded by reed (<i>Phragmites australis</i>), so the water surface might not be a...
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Copernicus Publications
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Archives Animal Breeding |
| Online Access: | https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/68/507/2025/aab-68-507-2025.pdf |
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| author | T. E. Sprenger C. Menschhorn R. Brodschneider |
| author_facet | T. E. Sprenger C. Menschhorn R. Brodschneider |
| author_sort | T. E. Sprenger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>The mating behaviour of honey bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) was studied on the small, beekeeping-free island of the Mörbischer Seefestspiele in Lake Neusiedl, Austria. This island is surrounded by reed (<i>Phragmites australis</i>), so the water surface might not be a as good a barrier for reproductive honey bees. Mating reliability was tested by a cordovan mating test on the island. Eleven drone colonies of <i>Apis mellifera ligustica</i> var. <i>cordovan</i> (cd), which have a recessive gene that colours the chitinous exoskeleton of the homozygous worker bees brown instead of black (wild type, wt), were placed on the island. Seventeen virgin cordovan queens were brought to the island for mating in 2022. After mating, the offspring of these queens were examined for their characteristics, and the proportion of homozygous worker bees with brown chitin was determined. Of the 17 virgin queens brought to the island, 11 were available for examination of their offspring. With the exception of two queens, all of the cd queens from the island had both cordovan and wild-type offspring. Although most of the queen bees had cd offspring predominantly, presumably all of them (except one that exclusively mated with cd drones from the island) mated with drones from the mainland as well. Another single queen showed only cd offspring. The average percentage of cordovan progeny of 63 % appears to be too low for controlled breeding of bees. In May and July 2022, we screened several locations of the island with a balloon and quadrocopter for drone congregation areas. In May, before providing drone colonies to the island, not a single drone was found on the island, whereas in July, a drone congregation area could be located close to the drone colonies. The results suggest that this island is not suitable for establishing a mating station for honey bee breeding programmes. The role of reed in drone and queen flight over water surfaces is discussed.</p> |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-028706948bf143e3ab040c6dfcb5f8de |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0003-9438 2363-9822 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Archives Animal Breeding |
| spelling | doaj-art-028706948bf143e3ab040c6dfcb5f8de2025-08-20T02:46:27ZengCopernicus PublicationsArchives Animal Breeding0003-94382363-98222025-07-016850751610.5194/aab-68-507-2025Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breedingT. E. Sprenger0C. Menschhorn1R. Brodschneider2University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, Vienna 1180, AustriaUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, Vienna 1180, AustriaDepartment of Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, Graz 8010, Austria<p>The mating behaviour of honey bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) was studied on the small, beekeeping-free island of the Mörbischer Seefestspiele in Lake Neusiedl, Austria. This island is surrounded by reed (<i>Phragmites australis</i>), so the water surface might not be a as good a barrier for reproductive honey bees. Mating reliability was tested by a cordovan mating test on the island. Eleven drone colonies of <i>Apis mellifera ligustica</i> var. <i>cordovan</i> (cd), which have a recessive gene that colours the chitinous exoskeleton of the homozygous worker bees brown instead of black (wild type, wt), were placed on the island. Seventeen virgin cordovan queens were brought to the island for mating in 2022. After mating, the offspring of these queens were examined for their characteristics, and the proportion of homozygous worker bees with brown chitin was determined. Of the 17 virgin queens brought to the island, 11 were available for examination of their offspring. With the exception of two queens, all of the cd queens from the island had both cordovan and wild-type offspring. Although most of the queen bees had cd offspring predominantly, presumably all of them (except one that exclusively mated with cd drones from the island) mated with drones from the mainland as well. Another single queen showed only cd offspring. The average percentage of cordovan progeny of 63 % appears to be too low for controlled breeding of bees. In May and July 2022, we screened several locations of the island with a balloon and quadrocopter for drone congregation areas. In May, before providing drone colonies to the island, not a single drone was found on the island, whereas in July, a drone congregation area could be located close to the drone colonies. The results suggest that this island is not suitable for establishing a mating station for honey bee breeding programmes. The role of reed in drone and queen flight over water surfaces is discussed.</p>https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/68/507/2025/aab-68-507-2025.pdf |
| spellingShingle | T. E. Sprenger C. Menschhorn R. Brodschneider Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding Archives Animal Breeding |
| title | Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding |
| title_full | Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding |
| title_fullStr | Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding |
| title_short | Investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in Lake Neusiedl (Austria) for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding |
| title_sort | investigating mating reliability and drone congregation areas on an island in lake neusiedl austria for the potential establishment of a mating station for honey bee breeding |
| url | https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/68/507/2025/aab-68-507-2025.pdf |
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