Quality of honeybee drones reared in colonies with limited and unlimited access to pollen

Abstract

Older larvae of honeybee drones are fed with a diet containing pollen. It is not known how pollen deprivation during the larval development of drones might affect their reproductive quality. This study investigated ejaculation ability and semen quality in drones reared in colonies with limited (LP) and unlimited (ULP) access to pollen. Access to pollen was limited by pollen traps. Drone brood rearing was not instantly abandoned in colonies with limited access to pollen. Colonies from the LP group reared drones with smaller mass, which ejaculated in fewer numbers and released smaller amounts of semen. The LP and ULP groups did not differ in semen quality as judged by the concentration, number, and viability of spermatozoa in ejaculate. It was found that access to pollen during larval development directly affects the reproductive quality of drones.