Artificial rearing of bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) selects against heavy queens

SUMMARY

When the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, was reared under controlled conditions in the laboratory for many generations, queens with a wet weight of 1g or more were no longer produced after several generations. At present it is unknown what causes the disappearance of these heavier queens. In this paper three possible explanations are given: (1) inbreeding, (2) altered energy allocation strategy such that more but lighter queens are produced, (3) a gradual build—up of a deficiency of scarce nutrients. No proof was found for a negative effect of inbreeding on the weight of queens, and colonies did not produce more queens. This suggests that the disappearance of heavy queens is caused by a deficiency of scarce nutrients.

Keywords:

• bumble bee queens
• Bombus terrestris
• rearing
• weight
• nutrient deficiency
• inbreeding
• energy allocation
• chemical legacy hypothesis