Genetic stock affects expression patterns of the multifunctional gene Vitellogenin in honey bee workers

We tested the expression of the multi-functional gene Vitellogenin (Vg) in four commercially available stocks of honey bees (Apis mellifera: L) under three different treatments: caged bees fed only 50% sucrose solution, caged bees fed sucrose solution and pollen paste, and free-roaming bees in a colony setting. We found that seven-day old bees fed pollen and sucrose in the lab as well as those in the colony had higher Vg expression than those fed only sucrose. There were strong differences in how the stocks responded to the treatments. This ranged from the Italian bees where expression was different between all treatment groups to the Saskatraz where there were no effects of treatment on Vg expression.