Attraction of Apis mellifera drones by the odours of the queens of two other species of honeybees.

Abstract

ETHANOL extracts of the queens of three species of honeybees, Apis mellifera, A. cerana sub-species indica and A. florea, contain substances that inhibit both queen rearing by workers of A. mellifera and development of the ovaries of workers of this species1,2. Rearing of queens and development of workers' ovaries in A. mellifera colonies are inhibited by the pheromone, 9-oxodec-trans-2-enoic acid, which is produced in the queen's mandibular glands3 and which also serves as the olfactory sex attractant in this species4,5. It has been suggested that it would be interesting to find out whether the odours of the queens of the other three species of honeybees, Apis cerana, A. dorsata and A. florea, attract drones of A. mellifera and, if so, whether such attraction is also caused by 9-oxodecenoic acid2. Nubile virgin queens of these species were not available, and so tests were made with mated queens of A. cerana sub-species indica and A. florea which had been preserved in ethanol for several years.