Bee culture – Method
Patent
1998-03-26
2000-05-16
Carone, Michael J.
Bee culture
Method
449 2, 449 8, A01K 4700, A01K 4900
Patent
active
060629452
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a process for rearing bumblebee queens (genus Bombus) by generating a colony with workers in the presence of fertilized eggs and/or larvae in a room with a controlled climate provided with food and allowing the colony to grow until bumblebee queens are produced.
This process is known from van Heemert, C. et al., Bee World, 71, 54-56 (1990). According to the known process, unfertilized bumblebee queens are first mated with males in special cages, exposed to CO.sub.2 in order to interrupt the diapause, and induced to brood. During brooding, workers are produced first; queens are not produced until after some time a sufficiently large number of workers has been produced to take care of the larvae. Furthermore, the number of queens that are eventually produced is very variable.
The object of the present invention is to provide a process for rearing bumblebees, wherein the queens are produced first, and wherein the average number of queens per colony is higher than occurs in nature or than is obtained by using the known process. These advantages are achieved by the process according to the invention, which is characterized in that subadult and/or adult workers which themselves originate from at least one different colony are brought together. This process has never been used before, probably for fear of agressive behaviour among workers of different origin.
Since according to the invention the colonies are formed in an articial manner, the production of queens is started at an earlier stage. Moreover, the number of queens per colony increases. Another advantage of the process according to the invention is that the colonies are younger and less contaminated at the time of starting the production of queens, thus reducing the chance that the newly produced queens are infected microbially or take in contaminated matter. Consequently, the young queens are of a higher quality. Another advantage of the process according to the invention is that finding and catching the young queens is easier, since there is little brood at the time that the young queens appear, and only few males have been produced at that stage. A significant advantage of the process according to the invention is the fact that it has now become possible in the production of bumblebee queens to select for quality, since the colonies from which the queens are reared can be selected on the basis of their favourable properties. Finally, a considerable economy of labour is achieved by using the process according to the invention, since the time required for tending to and checking the colonies is reduced. Furthermore, the process is more efficient than the prior art process, not only because more bumblebee queens per colony are produced, but also because, as a result of the enhanced quality of the colonies, the mating result of the young queens is improved and fewer queens are lost.
The process constitutes a significant improvement for the rearing of bumblebees. Bumblebees can be used for pollination purposes in agriculture and horticulture. This is important in those cases where said pollination must be carried out by hand, for example in the case of tomatoes. It is known (van Heemert, C. et al., Bee World, 71, 54-56 (1990); van den Eijnde, J., Aligemeine Deutsche Imkerzeitung, 6, 12-14 (1990)) that bumblebees have significant advantages in comparison with the honeybees that are also used for these purposes: bumblebees are larger and stronger and their tongues are longer, which makes them also useful for plants which have flowers whose nectar is difficult to reach; moreover, bumblebees are also active at lower outside temperatures and lower light intensities; finally, unlike honeybees, bumblebees do not have a mutual communication system with regard to alternative forage, so that bumblebees will remain inside a greenhouse with for example tomato plants during the summer months as well, whereas under the same circumstances, honeybees would gather food outside the greenhouse.
With the process according to the p
REFERENCES:
patent: 314973 (1885-03-01), Mitchell
patent: 4651372 (1987-03-01), Schmidt
patent: 5695383 (1997-12-01), Le Conte et al.
De Ruijter Arie
Van Den Eijnde Johannes H. P.
Carone Michael J.
Haliday Emily M.
Nguyen Son T.
Stichting Landelijk Proefbedrijf Insektenbestuiving & Bijenhoude
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