Mating flight

[Beefriendly]

We don't know what it is that attracts the drones to them and we know even less about how a virgin manages to find her way to them, never having been out of the hive previously .. but they do !

I've got no doubt one of the resident experts will be along to enlighten us shortly ..

You need to read Mating Biology of the honey bee by Koneiger. There is tremendous amount known about how and where DCA's form....not everything but a lot. The book describe a lot of the research performed on DCA's
Recent research is showing that many virgin queens are accompanied by an entourage on their mating flights (can be small, can be large) that enables them to find their way back. Only been able to read abstracts of these papers so don't have full experimental details.

 

[pargyle]

You need to read Mating Biology of the honey bee by Koneiger. There is tremendous amount known about how and where DCA's form....not everything but a lot. The book describe a lot of the research performed on DCA's
Recent research is showing that many virgin queens are accompanied by an entourage on their mating flights (can be small, can be large) that enables them to find their way back. Only been able to read abstracts of these papers so don't have full experimental details.

Looks fascinating reading but at £52 I might have to wait until Hampshire libraries acquire a copy ... or I'll give you a tenner for your copy if you've finished reading it ? Plus postage of course ...

 

[Beefriendly]

Looks fascinating reading but at £52 I might have to wait until Hampshire libraries acquire a copy ... or I'll give you a tenner for your copy if you've finished reading it ? Plus postage of course ...

Mines a 1st ed...would want a lot more...some cheaper ones on ABE, around 42 including postage.
Look at this way at £52 you only have to sell 10 jars of honey....not a lot of honey.
Next bit of kit I'm after will cost me well over 600 jars.....