THE USE OF HONEY-BEE QUEEN MANDIBULAR GLAND PHEROMONE IN MATING NUCLEI MANAGEMENT

Synthetic honey bee queen mandibular gland pheromone (QMP) was added to queen mating nuclei to determine if the pheromone could enhance the maintenance of adequate worker populations in mating nuclei and/or influence queen mating success. Trials were conducted in Manitoba (1990) and British Columbia (1992), Canada using a total of 84 nuclei. Nuclei that contained pheromone had more worker bees present one week and three weeks after they were established compared to nuclei without pheromone. More queens successfully mated in the pheromone treated nuclei (78%) than in the untreated nuclei (66%), but the differences were not statistically significant. In those nuclei that became queenless, significantly more bees were present in the pheromone treated nuclei after 21 days. Queen mandibular gland pheromone may be particularly useful when establishing new mating nuclei early in the season, when weather conditions are often not ideal for queen mating.