Queen Production Research Articles

Influence of heterosis on honey productivity of Carpathian bees

Obtaining the maximum number of products depends on the effectiveness of selection and breeding work on the improvement of existing and creation of new types and lines, as well as on the rational use of the gene pool of bees in regional breeding systems hybridization. Using inbred hybrids for this purpose makes it possible, along with increasing productivity, to preserve the purity of the bee breed, which is also extremely important. Along with this, there is no danger of the manifestation of an adverse effect of splitting traits in the offspring of subsequent generations, which is often observed when using interbreed crosses. Therefore, the purpose of the work was to study the laws and mechanisms of heterosis for breeding honey bees and obtaining the maximum amount of products. Breeding of queens that gave hybrid offspring of different origins was carried out in the conditions of the Carpathian zone of Transcarpathia in the apiaries of the Carpathian bee selection and reproduction department of the National Research Center “Institute of Beekeeping named after P. I. Prokopovich”. Based on experimental studies, a comprehensive assessment of combinations of honey bees was carried out using the example of the “Vuchkiv” and “Kolochav” types and their initial forms under different climatic conditions. Morphological, biological features and quantitative characteristics of honey productivity intertype hybrids of Carpathian bees were studied. The theoretical value of the work lies in the fact that the breeding of interbreeding types based on the developed methodology and the introduction of effective breeding technology for bee families ensures the preservation and reproduction of the Carpathian bee population. The phenomenon of heterosis was investigated as a result of crossing different types of Carpathian bees based on a comparative evaluation of the “Vuchkiv” and “Kolochav” types. At the same time, the data on their use, value, and natural resistance in different climatic conditions have been expanded. At the same time, the offspring, relative to the parents, differ in increased honey productivity by 40.1–45.2 %. The production of queens, intertype purebred Carpathian bees is a significant reserve for increasing the productivity of apiaries, primarily in the area of their purebred breeding and, unlike interbreed hybrids, does not pose a threat to crossbreeding of the breed.

Efficient Allocation of Labor Maximizes Brood Development and Explains Why Intermediate-Sized Groups Perform Best During Colony-Founding in the Ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus

Cooperation in nature is usually between relatives, but unrelated individuals can also cooperate, requiring significant benefits to outweigh the costs of helping non-kin. Unrelated queens of the ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus, work together to found a new colony, a phenomenon known as pleometrosis. While previous studies have shown that pleometrosis improves queen survival and worker production, little is known of the behavioral interactions within nests that explain these advantages. We aimed to determine how the optimal group size for a small, simple social group is related to group productivity and the organization of work. Collecting queens from a known pleometrotic population, we established nests with either one, three, six, or nine foundresses and observed the resulting nascent colonies for 50 days. We found that queens in social founding groups survived longer and had higher productivity. While all social groups were equally successful in producing workers, intermediate-sized groups were most successful in terms of per capita production. Inactivity increased with group size. In addition, the proportion of essential colony growth tasks performed (such as foraging and brood care) was lowest in both solitary-founded groups and in groups of nine queens. As a result, intermediate sized groups outperformed both solitary queens and groups of nine in the efficiency with which they converted eggs into workers. These results emphasize the benefits of cooperation and the ways in which group size can influence fitness and the allocation of labor in social groups.

Productivity of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) Fed with a Stimulating Feed Additive

The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of dihydroquercetin, a natural biologically active stimulant in the beekeeping industry. Studies on the effectiveness of the preparation were conducted in the field on four experimental groups, using different dosages of dihydroquercetin in each group. The maximum egg production of queens of bee colonies was observed in the second and third measurements in experimental group No. 3 when using dihydroquercetin at the rate of 15 mg/bee colony. The amount

Higher developmental temperature increases queen production and decreases worker body size in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Climate change and increasing average temperatures are now affecting most ecosystems. Social insects such as bumblebees are especially impacted because these changes create spatial, temporal and morphological mismatches that could impede their ability to find food resources and mate. However, few studies have assessed how the colony and life cycle are affected when temperatures rise above optimal rearing temperature. It has become imperative to understand how heat stress affects the life history traits of insect pollinators as well as how changes in life history interact with other traits like morphology. For example, a decrease in the number of foraging workers could be balanced by producing larger workers, able to forage at longer distances and gather more resources. Here, we investigated the impact of temperature on colony production and body size in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Colonies were exposed to two temperatures: 25 °C, which is around the optimal temperature for larval development and 33 °C, which is slightly above the set-point that is considered stressful for bumblebees. Although the production of males and workers wasn’t significantly affected by these different temperatures, queen production and reproductive investment were much higher for colonies placed in 33 °C than in 25 °C. We also found that, in agreement with the temperature-size rule, workers were significantly smaller in the higher temperature. The decrease in worker body size could affect resource collection and pollination if their foraging distance and the quantity of food they are taking back to the colony decreases. While in our controlled conditions the bumblebees were fed ad libitum, the decrease of resource collection in field conditions could prevent colonies from producing as many queens as in our study. Together with the decrease of worker body size, our results suggest that elevated temperatures could ultimately have a negative impact on bumblebee colony fitness. Indeed, smaller workers are known to have weaker flight performance which could affect foraging performance and consequently colony development.

Proteomic profiling of royal jelly produced by Apis mellifera L. exposed to food containing herbicide-based glyphosate

Royal jelly (RJ) is rich in protective elements associated with collective immune defenses in the hive of Apis mellifera. Exposure of bees to glyphosate-based herbicides causes ultrastructural changes in the hypopharyngeal glands and a reduction in the production of RJ. However, the effects of glyphosate-based herbicides on the protein composition of RJ and consequences for the hive are unknown. Thus, we performed proteomic profiling of royal jelly produced in hives of A. mellifera exposed to food containing 1,5 μL of Roundup® (2.16 mg. g−1 of glyphosate). The production of RJ was carried out in six hives, following the method of artificial production of queens. The combs containing 80 grafting cells were introduced into the hives, and the collection of royal jelly was performed after 72 h. Two treatments were determined based on hive feeding and the hive as the experimental unit: Control and “Roundup®”. Royal jelly from the Roundup® treatment hives was compared to the Control hives. Proteins with differences in expression were identified by mass spectrometry. Only the proteins present in all three biological replicates were considered in the differential abundance analysis, using Student's t-test (p-value < 0.05, two-tailed). Hives that received food containing Roundup®, analysis showed alterations in protein profile in the RJ produced therein. In total, 24 proteins were identified, and the accumulation of Major royal jelly protein 3 (MRJP3) was downregulated, showing a significant reduction in hives exposed to food containing Roundup® in relation to control hives (t = 0.0017). MRJP3 acts analogously to polyclonal antigen-antibody reactions, performing functions related to immunity in bees of different ages and castes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate changes in the proteomic profile of RJ caused by glyphosate-based herbicides, indicating its negative effects on the nutrition and social immunity of bees.

Influence of early spring feeding on the development of bee families in the natural lands of Polissya

To ensure intensive early spring development of bee colonies in the natural lands of Polissya Zhytomyr region in the winter-spring period it is necessary to feed stimulating food. Therefore, the aim of the work is to study the influence of spring feeding with sugar-honey dough on the development and honey productivity of bee families of Ukrainian breed in conditions of clean and radioactively contaminated natural lands of Zhytomyr Polissya. The influence of feeding bee colonies with sugar-honey dough (powdered sugar, centrifuged honey, water) using pure and radioactively contaminated honey on the intensity of development and honey productivity was studied. To do this, two groups were created with experimental families of Ukrainian bee breeds, selected on the principle of analogs, one of which was in a radioactively clean area, and the other in radioactively contaminated soils 137 Cs within 15 Ki/km² and above. A comparative assessment of the early spring development of families was made: from March 16 to May 20, with an interval of 21 days, the number of open and sealed brood, egg production of queens during the honey harvest season was determined. Honey productivity at the honey harvest from natural lands was determined by the amount of honey obtained in spring and summer. Early spring feeding with sugar-honey dough promotes intensive development of families, and the content of radioactively contaminated honey does not have a negative impact on their development. After the end of the season of honey collection from natural lands, bee families of Ukrainian breed, both in the radioactively contaminated and clean zone, had a medium strength and could successfully overwinter.

Early queen joining and long-term queen associations in polygyne colonies of an invasive wasp revealed by longitudinal genetic analysis.

Invasive social insects rank among the most damaging of terrestrial species. They are responsible for extensive damage and severely threaten the biodiversity of environments where they are introduced. Variation in colony social form commonly occurs in introduced populations of yellowjacket wasps (genus Vespula). In particular, invasive colonies may contain multiple queens (i.e., polygyne) and persist several years, while in the native range, the colonies are usually annual and harbor a single queen (i.e., monogyne). In this study, we used genome‐wide loci obtained by double digest restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) to investigate the genetic structure and queen turnover in colonies of the western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, in their introduced range in Hawaii. Of the 27 colonies monitored over four months (October–January), 19 were polygyne and already contained multiple queens on the first day of sampling. Contrary to previous speculation, this finding suggests that polygyny often arises early in the annual colony cycle, before the production of new queens in the fall. Furthermore, polygyne colonies exhibited a prolonged average lifespan relative to those headed by a single queen. As a result, there is no clear window during which colony eradication efforts would be more effective than upon first discovery. The relatedness among nestmate queens was slightly above zero, indicating that these colonies are generally composed of nonrelatives. The queen turnover within each colony was low, and we detected some full‐sibling workers sampled up to four months apart. Finally, we did not detect any population structure among colonies, suggesting that queens disperse up to several kilometers. Taken together, our results provide the first insights into the requeening dynamics in this invasive and incipiently polygyne population and illuminate the early establishment of multiple long‐lasting queens in these damaging colonies.

Detection of Cryptic Sex in Automictic Populations: Theoretical Expectations and a Case Study in Cataglyphis Desert Ants

Reproductive strategies are diverse and a whole continuum of mixed systems lies between strict sexuality and strict clonality (apomixis), including automixis, a parthenogenetic mode of reproduction involving a meiosis and increasing homozygosity over generations. These various systems impact the genetic structure of populations, which can therefore be used to infer reproductive strategies in natural populations. Here, we first develop a mathematical model, validated by simulations, to predict heterozygosity and inbreeding in mixed sexual-automictic populations. It highlights the predominant role of the rate of heterozygosity loss experienced during automixis (γ), which is locus dependent. Whenγis low, mixed populations behave like purely sexual ones until sex becomes rare. In contrast, whenγis high, the erosion of genetic diversity is tightly correlated to the rate of sex, so that the individual inbreeding coefficient can inform on the ratio of sexual/asexual reproduction. In the second part of this study, we used our model to test the presence of cryptic sex in a hybridogeneticCataglyphisant where new queens are produced parthenogenetically, leaving males with an apparent null fitness while they are essential to colony development as sperm is required to produce workers. Occasional sexual production of queens could resolve this paradox by providing males some fertile progeny. To determine whether this occurs in natural populations, we simulated genotypic datasets in a population under various regimes of sexual vs. asexual reproduction for queen production and compared the distribution of inbreeding, expected heterozygosity and inter-individual relatedness coefficients with those observed in a natural population ofCataglyphis mauritanicausing microsatellites. Our simulations show that the distribution of inter-individual relatedness coefficients was particularly informative to assess the relative rate of sexual/asexual reproduction, and our dataset was compatible with pure parthenogenesis but also with up to 2% sexual reproduction. Our approach, implemented in an R script, should be useful to assess reproductive strategies in other biological models.

Linked supergenes underlie split sex ratio and social organization in an ant

Sexually reproducing organisms usually invest equally in male and female offspring. Deviations from this pattern have led researchers to new discoveries in the study of parent-offspring conflict, genomic conflict, and cooperative breeding. Some social insect species exhibit the unusual population-level pattern of split sex ratio, wherein some colonies specialize in the production of future queens and others specialize in the production of males. Theoretical work predicted that worker control of sex ratio and variation in relatedness asymmetry among colonies would cause each colony to specialize in the production of one sex. While some empirical tests supported theoretical predictions, others deviated from them, leaving many questions about how split sex ratio emerges. One factor yet to be investigated is whether colony sex ratio may be influenced by the genotypes of queens or workers. Here, we sequence the genomes of 138 Formica glacialis workers from 34 male-producing and 34 gyne-producing colonies to determine whether split sex ratio is under genetic control. We identify a supergene spanning 5.5 Mbp that is closely associated with sex allocation in this system. Strikingly, this supergene is adjacent to another supergene spanning 5 Mbp that is associated with variation in colony queen number. We identify a similar pattern in a second related species, Formica podzolica. The discovery that split sex ratio is determined, at least in part, by a supergene in two species opens future research on the evolutionary drivers of split sex ratio.

The influence of feed additives on the acceptance and quality of queen bees

Currently, many scientists have proven the positive influence of feed additives on the productivity of different types of farm animals including bees since feed additives have a positive effect on the honey productivity of bee colonies and the quality of queen bees. The purpose of our work was to identify the effect of probiotics on the background of the dietary supplement Eracond on the acceptance of larvae and the weight of infertile queens. The scientific and economic experiment has been carried out on bees of Bashkir breed in an apiary located in the village of Nekrasovka in the Kartalinsky district in the Chelyabinsk region. Three groups of queen-rearing colony have been formed three in each. In the 2nd and 3rd experimental groups against the background of dietary supplement Erakond (50 mg/ kg) have been given: in the 2nd experimental group sugar syrup with Lactobacterin three doses per family, in the 3rd experimental group sugar syrup with Vetom 1,1 at the dose of 50 mg/kg. As a result, all the additives in the 2nd and 3rd experimental groups gave a positive result. The greatest effect on all indicators has been obtained with the combined use of 50 % sugar syrup with the addition of Eracond phytopreparation (50 mg/kg) and Vetom 1,1 probiotic (50 mg/kg). Feeding these drugs to queen rearing colonies contributed to the increase in the acceptance of larvae by 23,3 %, compared with the control and by 7,8 % compared with the 2nd experimental group, also had the positive influence on the weight of infertile queens by 11,4 % compared with the control group. The use of Vetom and Eracond contributed to the increase in the egg production of queens by 64,2, 54,9 and 57,0 % compared with the control for three accounting periods as well as the increase in the honey collection by 33,83 % or 4,5 kg.

The costs and benefits of sunflower pollen diet on bumble bee colony disease and health

AbstractPathogen transmission between domesticated and wild host species has important implications for community ecology, agriculture, and wildlife conservation. Bumble bees provide valuable pollination services that are vital for both wildflowers and agricultural production. Intense concerns about pathogen spillover from commercial bumble bees to wild bee populations, and the potential harmful effects of pathogen spillback to commercial bees, has stimulated a need for practical strategies that effectively manage bumble bee infectious diseases. Here, we assessed the costs and benefits of a medicinal sunflower pollen diet (Helianthusannuus) on whole‐colony bumble bee disease and performance using commercial colonies of the common eastern bumble bee,Bombus impatiens, and its protozoan pathogen,Crithidia bombi(Trypanosomatida). We first found that a 1:1 mixture of sunflower combined with wildflower pollen reducedC. bombiinfection prevalence and intensity within individualB. impatiensworkers by nearly 4‐fold and 12‐fold, respectively, relative to wildflower pollen. At the colony level, a 1:1 mixture of sunflower and wildflower pollen reducedC. bombiinfection prevalence by 11% averaged over a 10‐week period and infection intensity by 30% relative to wildflower pollen. Colony performance was similar between pollen diets and infection treatments, including the number of workers and immatures produced, and size and weight of workers, drones, and queens. Infection significantly reduced the probability of queen production in colonies fed a pure wildflower pollen diet, but not colonies fed a mixed sunflower pollen diet, suggesting that the medicinal benefits of a mixed sunflower pollen diet can reverse the negative effects of infection on reproductive success. This study provides evidence that sunflower pollen as part of a mixed pollen diet can reduce infection in individual bees and whole colonies with no significant nutritional trade‐offs for colony worker production and most aspects of colony reproduction. A supplemental mixed sunflower pollen diet may provide a simple and effective solution to reduce disease and improve the health of economically and ecologically important pollinators.

Experimental increase in fecundity causes upregulation of fecundity and body maintenance genes in the fat body of ant queens.

In most organisms, fecundity and longevity are negatively associated and the molecular regulation of these two life-history traits is highly interconnected. In addition, nutrient intake often has opposing effects on lifespan and reproduction. In contrast to solitary insects, the main reproductive individual of social hymenopterans, the queen, is also the most long-lived. During development, queen larvae are well-nourished, but we are only beginning to understand the impact of nutrition on the queens' adult life and the molecular regulation and connectivity of fecundity and longevity. Here, we used two experimental manipulations to alter queen fecundity in the ant Temnothorax rugatulus and investigated associated changes in fat body gene expression. Egg removal triggered a fecundity increase, leading to expression changes in genes with functions in fecundity such as oogenesis and body maintenance. Dietary restriction lowered the egg production of queens and altered the expression of genes linked to autophagy, Toll signalling, cellular homeostasis and immunity. Our study reveals that an experimental increase in fecundity causes the co-activation of reproduction and body maintenance mechanisms, shedding light on the molecular regulation of the link between longevity and fecundity in social insects.

Effects of developmental exposure to pesticides in wax and pollen on honey bee (Apis mellifera) queen reproductive phenotypes

Stressful conditions during development can have sub-lethal consequences on organisms aside from mortality. Using previously reported in-hive residues from commercial colonies, we examined how multi-pesticide exposure can influence honey bee (Apis mellifera) queen health. We reared queens in beeswax cups with or without a pesticide treatment within colonies exposed to treated or untreated pollen supplement. Following rearing, queens were open-mated and then placed into standard hive equipment in an “artificial swarm” to measure subsequent colony growth. Our treated wax had a pesticide Hazard Quotient comparable to the average in beeswax from commercial colonies, and it had no measurable effects on queen phenotype. Conversely, colonies exposed to pesticide-treated pollen had a reduced capacity for viable queen production, and among surviving queens from these colonies we observed lower sperm viability. We found no difference in queen mating number across treatments. Moreover, we measured lower brood viability in colonies later established by queens reared in treated-pollen colonies. Interestingly, royal jelly from colonies exposed to treated pollen contained negligible pesticide residues, suggesting the indirect social consequences of colony-level pesticide exposure on queen quality. These findings highlight how conditions during developmental can impact queens long into adulthood, and that colony-level pesticide exposure may do so indirectly.

Dairy productivity ewes' karachai breed of sheep and its relation with living mass and vertical zoning of pastures

Milk production and live weight of queens in mountain meat-coarse-wool sheep breeding, as one of the main quantitative traits in postnatal ontogenesis, are more susceptible to the influence of paratypical factors, that is, they have a large “rate of reaction” to the conditions of feeding and maintenance.In order to resolve the question * how to select, what animals to leave for the tribe in the mountain meat coarse-wool sheep breeding *? We at OOO Dargan, a mountainous zone of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), according to the methodology, formed five groups of queens, with a class interval of 5 kg.It was found that the milk production of the queens had a certain relationship with their live weight, and was 32.4 kg in group V, which exceeds the same indicator of group IV by 1.4 kg; III - by 3.0; II - by 7.6; I - by 8.5 kg, the difference between IV and III groups is 0.6 kg.At 4 months of age, the rams of group V in live weight exceeded rams of groups IV and III by 0.7 and 0.4 kg, II - by 2.5 kg, I - by 5.3 kg, at 6 months of age - I at 7.9 kg, II - at 4.0 kg, III - 1.5 kg. There were no significant differences between IV and V groups - 0.7 kg.Along with this, it should be noted that with an increase in the vertical zoning of pastures above sea level (above sea level), with steep slopes, the higher milk production potential of large queens is leveled.The obtained research results indicate that in mountain meat and coarse-wool sheep breeding, selection for increasing the milk yield of ewes, in combination with the optimal live weight, is an effective method of increasing the live weight of young animals.

Reproductive inhibition among nestmate queens in the invasive Argentine ant

In social species, the presence of several reproductive individuals can generate conflict. In social insects, as queen number increases, individual oviposition rate may decrease because of direct and indirect behavioural and/or chemical interactions. Understanding the factors that mediate differences in queen fecundity should provide insight into the regulation and maintenance of highly polygynous insect societies, such as those of the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). In this study, we investigated (1) whether differences in the oviposition rates of Argentine ant queens exposed to polygynous conditions could result from interactions among them; (2) whether such differences in fecundity stemmed from differences in worker attention; and (3) whether polygynous conditions affected the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of queens (CHCs). We found that differences in queen fecundity and CHC profiles observed under polygynous conditions disappeared when queens were exposed to monogynous conditions, suggesting some form of reproductive inhibition may exist when queens cohabit. These differences did not seem to arise from variation in worker attention because more fecund queens were not more attractive to workers. Levels of some CHCs were higher in more fecund queens. These CHCs are associated with greater queen productivity and survival. Our findings indicate that such compounds could be multifunctional queen pheromones.

The Neonicotinoid Insecticide Imidacloprid Disrupts Bumblebee Foraging Rhythms and Sleep.

SummaryNeonicotinoids have been implicated in the large declines observed in insects such as bumblebees, an important group of pollinators. Neonicotinoids are agonists of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that are found throughout the insect central nervous system and are the main mediators of synaptic neurotransmission. These receptors are important for the function of the insect central clock and circadian rhythms. The clock allows pollinators to coincide their activity with the availability of floral resources and favorable flight temperatures, as well as impact learning, navigation, and communication. Here we show that exposure to the field-relevant concentration of 10 μg/L imidacloprid caused a reduction in bumblebee foraging activity, locomotion, and foraging rhythmicity. Foragers showed an increase in daytime sleep and an increase in the proportion of activity occurring at night. This could reduce foraging and pollination opportunities, reducing the ability of the colony to grow and reproduce, endangering bee populations and crop yields.

Chernobyl-level radiation exposure damages bumblebee reproduction: a laboratory experiment.

The consequences for wildlife of living in radiologically contaminated environments are uncertain. Previous laboratory studies suggest insects are relatively radiation-resistant; however, some field studies from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone report severe adverse effects at substantially lower radiation dose rates than expected. Here, we present the first laboratory investigation to study how environmentally relevant radiation exposure affects bumblebee life history, assessing the shape of the relationship between radiation exposure and fitness loss. Dose rates comparable to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (50-400 µGy h-1) impaired bumblebee reproduction and delayed colony growth but did not affect colony weight or longevity. Our best-fitting model for the effect of radiation dose rate on colony queen production had a strongly nonlinear concave relationship: exposure to only 100 µGy h-1 impaired reproduction by 30-45%, while further dose rate increases caused more modest additional reproductive impairment. Our data indicate that the practice of estimating effects of environmentally relevant low-dose rate exposure by extrapolating from high-dose rates may have considerably underestimated the effects of radiation. If our data can be generalized, they suggest insects suffer significant negative consequences at dose rates previously thought safe; we therefore advocate relevant revisions to the international framework for radiological protection of the environment.

Evaluation of priming media and queen cup material on larval graft acceptance and queen emergence in Apis mellifera L.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of seven different priming media viz.,Apple Juice, Coconut Water, Royal Jelly, Diluted Royal Jelly, Honey Solution, Sugar Syrup, Distilled Water and dry grafting(Control) and three queen cup material viz., old comb wax, new capping wax and plastic, on larval graft acceptance and queen emergence during mass queen rearing and the variations between Autumn and Spring season under mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh. The larval graft acceptance as well as queen emergence(85.42% and 77.08%; 89.58% and 81.25%, respectively) during Autumn and Spring season, respectively was recorded significantly highest in royal jelly primed cups whereas lowest in non-primed cups. In queen cell cup material, the larval graft acceptance and queen emergence (62.50% and 57.03%; 67.97% and 63.28%, respectively) were observed maximum in old comb wax cups followed by new capping wax and plastic cups. No significant variations were recorded between spring and autumn season. The combined effect of cup material and priming media was also found non-significant. So, royal jelly as priming medium and old comb bees wax as artificial queen cell cup material are best for larval graft acceptance and queen emergence in Apis mellifera L. mass queen production in Spring and Autumn.

Agri‐environment schemes enhance pollinator richness and abundance but bumblebee reproduction depends on field size

Abstract Pollinators have experienced a dramatic decrease world‐wide due to agricultural intensification. In many countries, agri‐environment schemes (AES) have been introduced to counteract this current trend. However, until now, the relative importance of each AES for biodiversity and ecosystem services is still little understood and might change depending on landscape context. Complex landscape‐experiments are required to fill this knowledge gap, enabling the implementation of sustainable intensification of food production. In our study, we compared the effectiveness of the two most popular AES in Germany, organic farming and flower strips, in supporting pollinators and flower resources. We selected nine landscapes along a gradient of increasing field size, (configurational heterogeneity), each with a triplet of winter wheat fields: one organic, one conventional with flower strip and one conventional without flower strip as a control. We surveyed insect‐pollinated plants and pollinators (bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies). Additionally, we placed bumblebee colonies in the field edges to monitor their growth (colony weight gain) and reproduction (queen production). Flower strips stood out with the highest abundance and richness of pollinators. In contrast, bumblebee colony growth and plant richness benefited equally from organic and flower strip schemes. At the landscape scale, smaller fields had a positive effect on plant richness and bumblebee reproduction in flower strips. By contrast, bumblebee colonies in organic agriculture benefited most from large fields, as large organic fields provided much more flower resources than the narrow flower strips. Synthesis and applications. Our results showed that both local and landscape management shaped pollinator communities and their reproduction. Overall, organic farming and flower strips appeared to be effective tools to mitigate flower shortage in conventional cereal fields, with organic farming supporting the highest flowering plant cover per field. Flower strips enhanced local pollinator richness most, but increased bumblebee reproduction only when the surrounding landscapes had small fields with long field borders. Therefore, our results reveal that European Union policies need to take into account that the effectiveness of agri‐environment schemes depends on the structure of the surrounding landscape.

Honey Bee Queen Production: Canadian Costing Case Study and Profitability Analysis.

The decline in managed honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colony health worldwide has had a significant impact on the beekeeping industry. To mitigate colony losses, beekeepers in Canada and around the world introduce queens into replacement colonies; however, Canada’s short queen rearing season has historically limited the production of early season queens. As a result, Canadian beekeepers rely on the importation of foreign bees, particularly queens from warmer climates. Importing a large proportion of (often mal-adapted) queens each year creates a dependency on foreign bee sources, putting beekeeping, and pollination sectors at risk in the event of border closures, transportation issues, and other restrictions as is currently happening due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Although traditional Canadian queen production is unable to fully meet early season demand, increasing domestic queen production to meet mid- and later season demand would reduce Canada’s dependency. As well, on-going studies exploring the potential for overwintering queens in Canada may offer a strategy to have early season domestic queens available. Increasing the local supply of queens could provide Canadian beekeepers, farmers, and consumers with a greater level of agricultural stability and food security. Our study is the first rigorous analysis of the economic feasibility of queen production. We present the costs of queen production for three Canadian operations over two years. Our results show that it can be profitable for a beekeeping operation in Canada to produce queen cells and mated queens and could be one viable strategy to increase the sustainability of the beekeeping industry.