<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The effectiveness of two methods of collecting semen from honeybee Apis mellifera drones was compared, and the reasons for problems with ejaculating semen were analysed. Among 275 drones, 100 were stimulated to release semen using a manual method, 100 with the use of chloroform, and from 75 drones the reproductive organs were dissected for analysis and evaluation. It was found that the principal causes of problems that drones had with ejaculating their semen were anatomical changes or a delay in the development of the mucus glands. It was also found that the method employing chloroform was less efficient in the first phase of eversion of the endophallus, compared with the manual method. The method with the use of chloroform allows the determination of the proportion of drones, which do not evert the endophallus because of poor or delayed development of mucus glands, as well as the proportion of drones which evert the organ, but do not ejaculate semen because of the absence of semen in the seminal vesicles.</p></abstract>

The effectiveness of two methods of collecting semen from honeybee Apis mellifera drones was compared, and the reasons for problems with ejaculating semen were analysed. Among 275 drones, 100 were stimulated to release semen using a manual method, 100 with the use of chloroform, and from 75 drones the reproductive organs were dissected for analysis and evaluation. It was found that the principal causes of problems that drones had with ejaculating their semen were anatomical changes or a delay in the development of the mucus glands. It was also found that the method employing chloroform was less efficient in the first phase of eversion of the endophallus, compared with the manual method. The method with the use of chloroform allows the determination of the proportion of drones, which do not evert the endophallus because of poor or delayed development of mucus glands, as well as the proportion of drones which evert the organ, but do not ejaculate semen because of the absence of semen in the seminal vesicles.

The Ability of Honey Bee Drones to Ejaculate

Department of Pomology and Apiculture, Agricultural University, 29 Listopada 54, 31-425 Kraków, Poland

Department of Zoology and Apiculture, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Doktora Judyma 20, 71-466 Szczecin, Poland

Journal of Apicultural Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"The Ability of Honey Bee Drones to Ejaculate"}

The effectiveness of two methods of collecting semen from honeybee Apis mellifera drones was compared, and the reasons for problems with ejaculating semen were...

The Ability of Honey Bee Drones to Ejaculate

Published Online: Dec 09, 2015

Page range: 127 - 133

Received: Jul 24, 2015

Accepted: Oct 07, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jas-2015-0027

Keywords
Apis mellifera, drone, eversion, reproductive organ

© by Krystyna Czekońska

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The Ability of Honey Bee Drones to Ejaculate

Published Online: Dec 09, 2015

Page range: 127 - 133

Received: Jul 24, 2015

Accepted: Oct 07, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jas-2015-0027

KeywordsApis mellifera, drone, eversion, reproductive organ

© by Krystyna Czekońska

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Apis mellifera, drone, eversion, reproductive organ