Honey bee maternal effects improve worker performance and reproductive ability in offspring

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Animal reproduction
• Social insects

Background:

• Maternal effects are crucial for offspring quality.
• Honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens lay larger eggs in queen cells for better daughter queens.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate maternal effects on honey bee queen quality.
• Compare offspring from queen-destined eggs (QE), worker-destined eggs (WE), and worker-destined larvae (2L).

Main Methods:

• Assessed morphological indexes, reproductive tissues, and egg-laying ability.
• Examined offspring queen morphology and worker performance.
• Compared groups: QE, WE, and 2L.

Main Results:

• QE group showed significantly higher thorax weight, ovarioles, egg length, egg-laying, and brood capping.
• Offspring queens from QE were larger with better reproductive capacity.
• Offspring workers from QE exhibited larger size and enhanced foraging/nursing abilities.

Conclusions:

• Honey bees demonstrate substantial maternal effects on queen quality across generations.
• Maternal provisioning significantly impacts offspring development and performance.
• Findings support strategies for improving honey bee queen quality in apiculture.