Correlations Between the Age at Which Honeybee Brood was Grafted, Characteristics of the Resultant Queens, and Results of Insemination

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Abstract
Summary Queens were reared from eggs and from larvae 1, 2, 3 and 4 days old. They were then mated either naturally or instrumentally with 1 to 2×8 mm3 of semen. Each increase of 1 day in the age of brood grafted decreased not only the body weight, the size of the spermatheca and the number of ovarioles of the virgin queens, but also the number of spermatozoa in the spermathecae of naturally and instrumentally inseminated queens. A given amount of semen injected into the oviducts resulted in different numbers but similar concentrations of spermatozoa in spermathecae of different sizes. A smaller number of spermatozoa entered the smaller spermathecae, despite a surplus of semen in the oviducts and plenty of space in the spermathecae. Correlation coefficients between different characters were significant only when queens reared from brood of different age were compared. Partial correlations showed that a direct correlation existed between the age of grafted brood and the number of spermatozoa in the spermathecae of mated queens. The process of weighing virgin queens therefore helps in their selection.

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