New method for rearing bee larvae in the laboratory

Ecologists from the University of Wurzburg, Germany have developed a better way of rearing bee larvae in the laboratory. The current method of rearing bees in the laboratory has major drawbacks. It involves a process known as "grafting", where the tiny first instar bee larvae around 1mm long are collected using feathers, brushes or needles. As well as being time consuming and demanding considerable skill, the mechanical stress involved in handling causes mortality among the tiny larvae. To avoid handling the larvae, the researchers allowed honey bee queens to lay eggs directly into an artificial plastic honeycomb about the size of a cigar box. The plastic honeycomb is widely used by professional honey bee queen breeders, and by using in the laboratory the team found rearing bee larvae much easier and more successful.

According to lead author and keen bee-keeper Harmen Hendriksma: "The artificial comb has a hexagonal pattern with 110 holes the size of wax cells. The queen lays her eggs directly into these small plastic cells. Because the back of each cell has a small plastic cup, we can collect the larvae without handling them." Before starting his PhD in 2008, Hendriksma spent four years working with a new Dutch company producing honey for medical uses. Seeing it used by queen breeders, he decided to try out the plastic honeycomb in the laboratory.

Hendriksma and his colleagues found that when using the plastic honeycomb, almost all (97pc) larvae survived. And because it is straightforward and simple to use, researchers were able to collect more than 1,000 larvae in 90 minutes.

By introducing a robust, standardised way of rearing larvae the technique should also help improve the quality of bee research because the results of experiments conducted in different laboratories will be more directly comparable.

The study also shows that applying statistical approaches used in other areas of ecological science can help bee researchers to better analyse their results.

The study has been published this week in the British Ecological Society's journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution (attached).

Source: sify.com, 22-03-2011
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