Читать книгу Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner - Группа авторов - Страница 37

Modern apiarists work to limit the amount of drone comb produced by honey bees because beekeepers have learned that by preventing their colonies from producing drones, they can increase honey production (Seeley 2002). Furthermore, drone comb is the preferred site for Varroa reproduction. Limiting it, however, partially “castrates” a colony by reducing the ability of a colony to contribute to the population of drones in a region, an important driver of honey bee diversity and fitness (Seeley 2017b). It is now known that a colony's health and productivity is enhanced by its having high genetic diversity among its worker bees, which arises from the multiple mating (polyandry) strategy of queen honey bees (Tarpy and Seeley 2006; Seeley and Tarpy 2007; Mattila and Seeley 2007). On average, a queen honey bee mates with, and acquires sperm from 10 to 20 drones. Inhibiting drone production in colonies hinders the maintenance of genetic diversity within a region, including the genes that may hold resistance to mites (Rosenkranz et al. 2010).