The influence of temperature and photoperiod on the timing of brood onset in hibernating honey bee colonies

PeerJ
Fabian NürnbergerIngolf Steffan-Dewenter

Abstract

In order to save resources, honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in the temperate zones stop brood rearing during winter. Brood rearing is resumed in late winter to build up a sufficient worker force that allows to exploit floral resources in upcoming spring. The timing of brood onset in hibernating colonies is crucial and a premature brood onset could lead to an early depletion of energy reservoirs. However, the mechanisms underlying the timing of brood onset and potential risks of mistiming in the course of ongoing climate change are not well understood. To assess the relative importance of ambient temperature and photoperiod as potential regulating factors for brood rearing activity in hibernating colonies, we overwintered 24 honey bee colonies within environmental chambers. The colonies were assigned to two different temperature treatments and three different photoperiod treatments to disentangle the individual and interacting effects of temperature and photoperiod. Tracking in-hive temperature as indicator for brood rearing activity revealed that increasing ambient temperature triggered brood onset. Under cold conditions, photoperiod alone did not affect brood onset, but the light regime altered the impact of higher ambient...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 9, 2019·Global Change Biology·Bram CornelissenOliver Schweiger
Nov 5, 2020·Veterinary Sciences·Peter HristovBoyko Neov
Nov 29, 2020·Genetics, Selection, Evolution : GSE·Matthieu GuichardBenjamin Dainat
Aug 23, 2021·Toxicon : Official Journal of the International Society on Toxinology·Isabelli Sayuri KonoTatiane Cargnin Faccin

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