https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue Search results en Honeybee drones’ only known task is to mate with a virgin queen. Apart from their mating behaviour, their ecology has been little studied in comparison to honeybee females. Most previous knowledge is based on direct observations at a single experimental hive and gathered during a restricted amount of time. No study has focused on differences between Apis mellifera subspecies. This study presents drone and worker bee lifetime data of Apis mellifera mellifera and Apis mellifera x (hybrid Buckfast) colonies during the whole spring and summer mating season, using the Radio Frequency Identification Technology. This method enables continuous monitoring of tagged bees at the entrance of the hives together with the individuals’ movement direction. Differences were found between Apis m. mellifera and Buckfast drones, where Apis m. mellifera showed later drone production in spring, but earlier first activities and a later peak activity. Additionally, Apis m. mellifera flew more under high light intensities and windy conditions and performed more longer flights than Buckfast drones. No differences were found in their lifespan. However, drones in general showed higher activity the higher the temperature and avoided flights in the rain. The results confirmed that spring-born drones survive longer than summer-born drones and lived generally longer than worker bees. Drones peak activity occurred in the afternoon while worker bees showed similar activities throughout the day. Worker bees, unlike drones, did fly in the rain. Normally, orientation flights of drones are described to occur between 4 - 8 days of age, but such flights were observed earlier in this study. In summer, frequent mating flights were practiced before drones reach sexual maturity (at 12 days of age). The observed differences in drone ecology support possible local adaptation of the native subspecies Apis m. mellifera to the environmental conditions in Sweden. Fri, 02 Aug 2024 11:45:44 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-169 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-169 University of Skövde Finja Schaumann Niclas Norrström Mats Niklasson Sonja Leidenberger Most research on the biology of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) focuses on the worker bees, but knowledge about drones is lacking despite their important role in mating with a virgin queen. Available information about their ecology and behavior are mainly based on direct observations in need of intensive experience and knowledge about honey bees. Only two recent studies conducted in France and Argentina have monitored drones continuously, but on the scale of a single observation hive or during a short time period only. Therefore, studies that have continuously monitored drone flight activity during the whole mating season are still lacking. Further, we are not aware of any studies that have compared the ecology and behavior of drones between different subspecies of Apis mellifera. Besides the aim of analysing the ecology and behavior of drones in spring and summer in Sweden, where the climate poses challenging conditions for honey bees, the objective of this project was to compare the native, but threatened, subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera (Mel) with the hybrid ’Buckfast’ (Apis mellifera x, Buck). In Sweden, the latter is most commonly used in beekeeping today. Activity data at the entrance of the hives was collected with the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology at two different apiaries with 8 colonies each. RFID technology enables the continuous monitoring of bees tagged with a microchip on their thorax. Hereby, only newborn drones with a maximum age of 3 days were tagged. Further, drones’ activity and behavior at the entrance of the hive was studied from video recordings. Weather parameters were measured by weather stations installed within the apiaries, enabling a direct analysis of the activity in relation to weather conditions (temperature, wind speed, rain, humidity). Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:58:09 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-211 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-211 University of Skövde Finja Schaumann