It is buzziness time: rearing, mating, and overwintering Bombus vosnesenskii (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

ABSTRACT: Bombus vosnesenskii Radowszkowski, 1862 is one of three bumble bee species commercially available for pollination services in North America; however, little is documented about B. vosnesenskii colony life cycle or the establishment of ex situ rearing, mating, and overwintering practices. In this study, we documented nest success, colony size, and gyne production; recorded the duration of mating events; assessed overwintering survival of mated gynes; and evaluated second-generation nest success for colonies established from low- and high-elevation wild-caught B. vosnesenskii gynes. Of the 125 gynes installed, 62.4% produced brood cells (nest initiation) and 43.2% had at least 1 worker eclose (nest establishment). High-elevation B. vosnesenskii gynes had significantly higher nest initiation

SUBMITTER: Christman ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10560002 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature