Technology for relieving bumblebee queen diapause

Abstract

A technology for relieving diapause of bumblebee queen bees is realized mainly by performing worker bee induction at key nodes of bumblebee queen breeding activation: after mating bumblebee queen bees are activated, selecting a worker bee which just comes out of a house for one day from a bee supply colony to join a queen bee feeding group, inducing the queen bees to relieve diapause, and entering a breeding state; after 5-7 days, replacing the worker bees added before with new worker bees to prevent the worker bees from laying eggs; the process is repeated for two to three times until the queen bees lay eggs; through worker bee induction, bumblebee queen diapause can be quickly relieved, the queen bee is stimulated to lay eggs in advance, and the breeding period can be shortened by about three months; the bumblebee queen is not subjected to low-temperature diapause, so that the vigorous vitality of the bumblebee queen is kept, the breeding efficiency of the bumblebee queen is improved, and the seed selection and breeding process is accelerated.

Description

Technical field:

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of bumblebee breeding applications, and in particular relates to a technology capable of relieving the diapause of a bumblebee queen. Background technology:

[0002] Bumblebees are widely distributed in temperate regions and are economically important pollinating insects. Following breakthroughs in artificial bumblebee breeding technology, bumblebees are widely used worldwide for greenhouse crop pollination due to their cold tolerance, high pollination efficiency, and rapid reproduction. Using bumblebees for crop pollination not only saves labor but also increases the yield and quality of fruits and vegetables. With the rapid development of protected agriculture, large numbers of bumblebees are needed annually to pollinate greenhouse crops.

[0003] Bumblebees have unique reproductive characteristics. Under natural conditions, the queen overwinters underground, emerging from hibernation in spring to begin laying eggs and hatching larvae. After worker bees emerge from their hives, a social division of labor gradually develops. Worker bees are responsible for gathering eggs, building nests, and feeding larvae, while the queen focuses solely on laying eggs and no longer ventures out to gather eggs. As worker bees gradually emerge from their hives, the colony gradually grows in size. In autumn, the colony produces new queens and drones. After mating, the queens seek out hibernation sites, spending the long winter in diapause. The old queens, workers, and drones in the colony cannot survive the winter and gradually die, leading to the collapse of the colony.

[0004] Diapause is an effective survival adaptation strategy used by insects to survive in harsh environments. Diapause encompasses a series of behavioral and physiological changes in bumblebees that have evolved in concert with their environment. In natural environments, diapause allows bumblebee queens to safely survive the extreme low temperatures of winter and is a crucial reproductive mechanism for bumblebee queens. In artificial bumblebee breeding, the current practice is to simulate low-temperature environments by placing the queens in these conditions for a period of time to complete the diapause process. In production, after a bumblebee queen completes diapause and undergoes a period of approximately three months, it is activated and reared to achieve relatively good egg-laying and swarming rates, enabling the production of commercial pollinating bumblebees for greenhouse crop pollination.

[0005] Based on research into bumblebee reproductive characteristics, researchers have simulated the living environments of bumblebees at various stages, achieving breakthroughs in artificial bumblebee breeding technology and enabling year-round artificial breeding and factory-scale production. Bumblebee queens spend a long period in diapause, impacting their survival rate and reproductive success. Ensuring that bumblebee queens survive this period has long been a core technology of considerable concern in production.

[0006] The current disadvantages of artificially breeding bumblebees are (1) the queen bee has to go through a low-temperature diapause process, which generally lasts for three months. After activation and feeding, the queen bee's ovarian tubes enter a developmental state, gradually build nests, lay eggs, and hatch, achieving better reproductive results.

[0007] (2) The diapause behavior of bumblebee queens is a passive adaptation to the low-temperature environment in nature. In order to survive in a low-temperature environment, they need to consume a large amount of accumulated nutrients, mainly carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids, which leads to a decrease in the queen's reproductive ability in the later period and even death during hibernation.

[0008] (3) The bumblebee breeding cycle is long. The queen bee has to go through the processes of egg laying, hatching, swarming, mating of new queen bees, diapause, and activation. A breeding cycle is about seven months, including a three-month diapause period. Summary of the invention:

[0009] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to release the bumblebee queen from diapause, which lasts for a long time and consumes a lot of energy. The present invention eliminates the bumblebee queen from diapause after mating by directly replenishing newly emerged (one-day-old) bumblebee workers at the critical point of queen activation. This releases the queen from diapause through worker bee induction, enabling rapid reproduction and shortening the reproductive cycle.

[0010] Compared with conventional artificial breeding methods of bumblebees, worker bee induction can release the bumblebee queen from diapause, omit the low-temperature diapause process, and shorten the entire breeding cycle by about three months, which is conducive to accelerating the year-round breeding and selection breeding process of bumblebees.

[0011] After a bumblebee queen is activated, newly emerged (one-day-old) worker bees are added. Although the queen has not yet laid eggs, both the queen and worker bees will display incubation behaviors and will not engage in aggression. After five to seven days, the newly emerged worker bees are replaced with the previously added workers to prevent them from laying eggs. Most queens lay eggs around two weeks old, similar to the egg-laying time of queens that have undergone normal cold diapause.

[0012] The invention relieves the diapause of the bumblebee queen by replenishing newly emerged bumblebee worker bees. Compared with conventional artificial breeding, the breeding period can be shortened by three months, thereby achieving the purpose of rapid breeding of bumblebees and accelerating seed selection and breeding.

[0013] The technical solution of the present invention:

[0014] A technology for relieving bumblebee queen diapause is characterized by: raising a group of bumblebees in advance as a supply bee colony, having the bumblebees specifically produce worker bees to supply the queen bee after mating, and relieving the queen bee diapause through induction stimulation by the worker bees.

[0015] After the mated bumblebee queen is activated, a one-day-old worker bee that has just emerged from the cell is selected from the donor bee colony to join the queen breeding colony; five to seven days later, the newly emerged worker bee is used to replace the previously added worker bee to prevent the worker bee from laying eggs; this process is repeated two to three times until the queen bee lays eggs.

[0016] The advantages and beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0017] 1. The present invention is a technical solution that can supplement the activated bumblebee queen with newly emerged worker bees, thereby relieving the queen from diapause, stimulating the queen to hatch, lay eggs in advance, and shortening the reproductive cycle by about three months.

[0018] 2. The bumblebee queen does not experience low-temperature diapause and maintains vigorous vitality, which is conducive to completing tasks such as egg laying, nursing, hatching, and feeding, forming a powerful bumblebee pollination group. Description of the drawings:

[0019] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a technology for relieving bumblebee queen diapause Specific implementation method:

[0020] A technology for relieving bumblebee queen diapause is characterized by: raising a group of bumblebees in advance as a supply bee colony, which specializes in producing worker bees to supply the bumblebee queen; after the mated bumblebee queen is activated, a one-day-old worker bee that has just emerged from the hive is selected from the supply bee colony and added to the queen breeding colony to induce the queen bee to escape diapause and enter a breeding state; after five to seven days, the previously added worker bees are replaced with newly emerged worker bees to prevent the worker bees from laying eggs; this process is repeated two to three times until the queen bee lays eggs; through the worker bee induction, the bumblebee queen diapause state can be quickly relieved, the breeding cycle can be shortened by about three months, the queen bee maintains vigorous vitality, rapid reproduction is achieved, and the seed selection and breeding process is accelerated.

[0021] The technology for relieving bumblebee queen diapause as described above is characterized by inducing worker bees at the key node of bumblebee queen breeding activation. The induced worker bees are young bees that have just emerged from the hive. They are replaced every five to seven days, and the queen diapause can be relieved after two to three times.

Claims

1. A technology for relieving bumblebee queen diapause, characterized by: A group of bumblebees are raised in advance as supply bee colonies, which specialize in producing worker bees to supply the bumblebee queen; after the mated bumblebee queen is activated, a one-day-old worker bee that has just emerged from the cell is selected from the supply bee colony to join the queen breeding colony, inducing the queen to end diapause and enter the reproductive state; after five to seven days, the worker bees that have just emerged from the cell are used to replace the previously added worker bees to prevent the worker bees from laying eggs; this process is repeated two to three times until the queen lays eggs; through worker bee induction, the diapause state of the bumblebee queen can be quickly released, the reproductive cycle can be shortened by about three months, the queen can maintain strong vitality, rapid reproduction can be achieved, and the selection and breeding process can be accelerated.

2. The technology for relieving bumblebee queen diapause according to claim 1, wherein: This is achieved by inducing worker bees at the key points of bumblebee queen breeding activation. The induced worker bees are young bees that have just left the cell. They are replaced every five to seven days. After two to three times, the queen bee diapause can be released.

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