Comparisons of the queen volatile compounds of instrumentally inseminated versus naturally mated honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens

Abstract

Instrumental insemination is an attractive alternative to natural mating because specific genetic crosses can be made, thus producing colonies with desired traits. However, there are conflicting reports on the quality and acceptance of instrumentally inseminated (II) queens compared to naturally mated (NM) queens. One factor that affects acceptance and retention of queens is the volatile compounds they produce. Our study compared volatile chemicals from virgin and mated honey bee queens that were either NM or II. The volatile compounds from virgin queens differed from those of mated egg-laying queens. Virgin queens produced greater relative amounts of the volatile compounds we detected (including 2-phenylethanol, n-octanal, and n-decanal) with the exception of E-β-ocimene, which was higher in mated laying queens. II and NM queens did not differ in type or relative amounts of volatile compounds. The similarities between II and NM queens indicate that the physiological changes that happen after mating and egg laying occur regardless of the mating method.