The fertility and fecundity of the queen are vital to the success of a honey bee colony (Apis mellifera L.). Young mated queens are shipped worldwide to meet the demand of the beekeeping industry. Since little is known about the conditions experienced by queens in transit from breeders to beekeepers and the importance of these conditions on the queens’ reproductive potential, we conducted a two-part study. First, queen shipments from the USA and Canada to Canadian beekeepers were monitored to measure thermal conditions during shipment. A total of 39 shipments were followed in 2017 and 2018. Monitoring revealed variable temperatures during shipment, with occasional periods of lows (10–15 °C) and highs (30–36 °C). Second, young mated queens were placed in different shipping boxes with or without attendant bees and exposed to one of three temperatures (6 °C, 26 °C, and 40 °C) for 2 h. We then compared the thermoregulation within shipping boxes, and the viability of sperm in each queen’s spermatheca. Our results show that both low and high temperatures significantly decrease sperm viability, and that the addition of loose attendant bees within shipment boxes helps maintain the temperature at 26 °C when exposed to low temperature and delays the temperature increase when temperatures are high. The study shows the potential to improve current honey bee shipping methods in order to mitigate variable conditions experienced by bees during transportation.

中文翻译：

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运输箱、随行蜜蜂和温度对蜜蜂蜂王精子质量的影响（Apis mellifera）

蜂王的生育力和繁殖力对于蜜蜂群落（Apis mellifera L.）的成功至关重要。年轻的交配蜂王被运往世界各地以满足养蜂业的需求。由于对蜂王从饲养员到养蜂人的过渡过程中所经历的条件以及这些条件对蜂王繁殖潜力的重要性知之甚少，因此我们进行了一项由两部分组成的研究。首先，监测从美国和加拿大运往加拿大养蜂人的蜂王，以测量运输过程中的热条件。2017 年和 2018 年共跟踪了 39 批货物。监测显示运输过程中温度变化，偶尔出现低温 (10–15 °C) 和高温 (30–36 °C)。第二，年轻的交配后的蜂王被放置在有或没有伴随蜜蜂的不同运输箱中，并暴露在三种温度（6°C、26°C 和 40°C）中的一种温度下 2 小时。然后，我们比较了运输箱内的温度调节，以及每个蜂王受精囊中精子的活力。我们的结果表明，低温和高温都会显着降低精子的活力，并且在装运箱中添加松散的随行蜜蜂有助于在暴露于低温时将温度保持在 26 °C，并在高温时延迟温度升高。该研究显示了改进当前蜜蜂运输方法的潜力，以减轻蜜蜂在运输过程中遇到的可变条件。以及每个蜂王受精囊中精子的活力。我们的结果表明，低温和高温都会显着降低精子的活力，并且在装运箱中添加松散的随行蜜蜂有助于在暴露于低温时将温度保持在 26 °C，并在高温时延迟温度升高。该研究显示了改进当前蜜蜂运输方法的潜力，以减轻蜜蜂在运输过程中遇到的可变条件。以及每个蜂王受精囊中精子的活力。我们的结果表明，低温和高温都会显着降低精子的活力，并且在装运箱中添加松散的随行蜜蜂有助于在暴露于低温时将温度保持在 26 °C，并在高温时延迟温度升高。该研究显示了改进当前蜜蜂运输方法的潜力，以减轻蜜蜂在运输过程中遇到的可变条件。