Bee Behaviour - Index
Minnesota Hygiene Queen
 
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Hygienic Behaviour in Honey Bees

There are several ways in which we can investigate this property in honey bees.

Pin killing of brood in a variety of patterns including rosette and diamond or rhombic are common. The idea is to kill the contents of the cell without using such methods as freezing.

Whichever pattern of pin killing is used, it has a serious drawback. The pin leaves a hole, only a small hole, but this renders the comparison with sealed cells invalid or unreliable at best, as the aroma leaking through the hole itself will be many times greater than the level of smell that the bees would have to detect if the capping was sound, if indeed that makes any difference.

Freezing brood using liquid nitrogen is described in the "Minnesota hygiene queen" page in the menu at top left.

Dave Cushman.

Page created 07/12/2001

Page updated 24/12/2022

 Written... 07 December 2001, Revised... 18 January 2002, Upgraded... 15 June 2006,
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