HONEY BEE & POLLINATION

Fact sheet: Artificial insemination of honey bee queens – how many mates is enough?

  • 4 pages

  • Published: 5 Dec 2018

  • Author(s): Ben Oldroyd, Nadine Chapman

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In this study we examined whether colonies headed by queens inseminated with the semen of 16 males outperformed colonies headed by queens inseminated with the semen of 8 males. The study found genetic diversity reduces the likelihood of brood inviability, colony failure and disease incidence, while increasing colony size and amount of honey produced.