Factors Affecting Honeybee Queen Mating and Reproduction

Dr. Elina Lastro Nino 
Assistant Specialist in CE, 
Department of Entomology & Nematology, UC Davis 

Dr. Elina Lastro Nino directs the E.L. Nino Bee Lab at the UC Davis Honey Bee Research Facility. In addition to research, the lab offers workshops and classes, and is developing a pollinator education program for children (grades 3-5) and a master beekeeping program. In this presentation, Dr. Nino focuses on the lab’s research on the queen bee, which is the only reproductive female in a colony, and the loss of colonies due to failure of the queen’s reproductive ability. Because the bee’s role as pollinator is crucial to plant food production, Dr. Nino and her colleagues hope that a better understanding of what regulates bee reproduction can help improve queen health and the development of quality breeding programs. 

Recorded: December 8, 2015