Reproductive quality in drones bred from Caucasian (A. m. caucasica) and Italian (A. m. ligustica) honey bee colonies

Kahya Y., Gencer H. V.

APIDOLOGIE, cilt.54, sa.1, ss.1-14, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 54 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s13592-022-00973-y
  • Dergi Adı: APIDOLOGIE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Geobase, Veterinary Science Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-14
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Many investigations were carried out on how environmental factors affect the reproductive characters

of drones. The genetic variation in the reproductive characters of drones has been understudied, however.

This research aimed to compare the variation in the reproductive characters of drones bred from two widely

used subspecies in apiculture, Caucasian (A. m. caucasica) and Italian (A. m. ligustica), considering the colony

effect. The experimental drones reared under the same spatiotemporal conditions were used to measure semen

characters (ejaculate volume and the number, concentration, and viability of spermatozoa) and ejaculation

ability characters (ejaculation proportion, ejaculation efficiency, and semen collection efficiency). The results

displayed significant differences between subspecies in body weight, ejaculate volume, spermatozoa number in

seminal vesicles and ejaculates, ejaculation proportion, ejaculation efficiency, and semen collection efficiency.

The differences in the number of spermatozoa in seminal vesicles, ejaculation proportion, and semen collection

efficiency were significant between the Italian colonies, whereas no significant difference was found in these

characters between the Caucasian colonies. The concentration and the viability of spermatozoa were not significantly

different both in subspecies and in colonies. These findings suggest that Caucasian drones appeared

to be somewhat fitter than Italian drones.