One of the experiments we are running in the Better-B project aims to test the effect of heat stress on drones, the male members of a honeybee colony. Unlike the female worker bee, the drone's only purpose is to mate with a maiden queen, bringing genetic diversity (and strength) to the colony.
Due to climate change and other environmental factors, thermoregulating the beehive is becoming more challenging, and this might also affect — among other things — the drones.
In this experiment, we want to know what happens if colonies lose the ability to thermoregulate their beehive, even if just for a few hours, exposing drone brood to high temperatures.
The first step of our experiment is therefore to expose drone brood to higher temperatures and then mark the drones as they emerge, so we can collect them once they have matured (as can be seen in the pictures below).
After maturation, our researchers will collect drone sperm and apply a live/dead stain to know if previous heat exposure lead to fertility problems (dead sperm cells).
Better-B has received funding from the European Union, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government's Horizon Europe funding guarantee (grant number 10068544).
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, European Research Executive Agency (REA), SERI or UKRI. Neither the European Union nor the granting authorities can be held responsible for them.
