Jon
25-06-2015, 08:30 AM
I found this great wee paper by following a link on Bee-L.
Well worth reading for anyone interested in queen mating and bee breeding.
It discusses some of the old chestnuts as to whether sperm is clumped or mixed in the spermatheca, whether the queen has control over the drones she mates with or vice versa and whether sperm competition can take place after or before storage in the spermatheca.
Apidologie 36 (2005) 187–200
© INRA/DIB-AGIB/ EDP Sciences, 2005
Sexual selection in Apis bees (https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00892137/document) - Boris BAER
Well worth reading for anyone interested in queen mating and bee breeding.
It discusses some of the old chestnuts as to whether sperm is clumped or mixed in the spermatheca, whether the queen has control over the drones she mates with or vice versa and whether sperm competition can take place after or before storage in the spermatheca.
Apidologie 36 (2005) 187–200
© INRA/DIB-AGIB/ EDP Sciences, 2005
Sexual selection in Apis bees (https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00892137/document) - Boris BAER