<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In order to study the cold resistance of honey bees, the authors systematically investigated the supercooling points (SCPs) of <italic>Apis mellifera ligustica</italic> worker bees performing different age-related tasks. There were statistically significant differences in SCPs between worker bees performing different activities (P&lt;0.05). The nectar-water collector had the highest SCP temperature (-3.16°C), highest water content (74.85%) and lowest crude fat content (6.13%). The soldier had the lowest SCP temperature (-6.40°C), relatively lower water content (70.33%) and higher crude fat content (7.28%). No significant difference was found in the SCPs of workers of different ages. Winter bees did not differ from summer bees in their SCPs. The relatively higher SCPs from different kinds of individual bees suggest that honey bees do not mainly rely on their low SCPs for their cold resistance.</p></abstract>

In order to study the cold resistance of honey bees, the authors systematically investigated the supercooling points (SCPs) of Apis mellifera ligustica worker bees performing different age-related tasks. There were statistically significant differences in SCPs between worker bees performing different activities (P<0.05). The nectar-water collector had the highest SCP temperature (-3.16°C), highest water content (74.85%) and lowest crude fat content (6.13%). The soldier had the lowest SCP temperature (-6.40°C), relatively lower water content (70.33%) and higher crude fat content (7.28%). No significant difference was found in the SCPs of workers of different ages. Winter bees did not differ from summer bees in their SCPs. The relatively higher SCPs from different kinds of individual bees suggest that honey bees do not mainly rely on their low SCPs for their cold resistance.

Supercooling Points of <italic>Apis Mellifera Ligustica</italic> when Performing Different Age-Related Tasks

Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

Journal of Apicultural Science

Supercooling Points of  when Performing Different Age-Related Tasks

In order to study the cold resistance of honey bees, the authors systematically investigated the supercooling points (SCPs) of Apis mellifera ligustica worker...

Supercooling Points of Apis Mellifera Ligustica when Performing Different Age-Related Tasks

Published Online: Jun 19, 2012

Page range: 107 - 114

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10289-012-0012-z

Keywords
honey bee, workers, supercooling point, water content, crude fat content

This content is open access.