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More sex, healthier colonies: how queen bees’ promiscuity benefits the hive

Bringing a whole new meaning to being a busy little bee, scientists have discovered that the more promiscuous a queen bee, the better the hive’s honey.

Scientists from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in the United States have examined the inner workings of beehives to find out more about their bodies, food and digestion.

They found that when queen bees were more willing to spread their love around during mating season, a more diverse symbiotic microbial community would result, and they would have reduced loads of bacteria from pathogenic groups and more probiotic bacteria.

Honey bee colonies have suffered in recent years, as a result of changing environments, which has resulted in a decline in honey, spurring the scientists to discover what’s really going on behind closed doors – or closed beehives.

The US has experienced a decline of about 30 per cent in honey volumes since 2007, a concerning figure considering it is responsible for about $US15 billion in value to the food supplies.

Microbiologists at Indiana University, led by Irene L.G. Newton and Heather R. Mattila, compared two groups of bee honey colonies in their research.

The first group had promiscuous bees who had been inseminated by 15 different male bees, which had created genetically diverse populations.

But in the second, the queens mated with only one male bee each and therefore were genetically uniform.

They obtained bacteria samples from across the colonies and compared their findings, which uncovered that diverse honey bee colonies showed a much wider variety of active bacterial species, with 1,105 species.

Only 781 species were found in uniform worker populations and active bacteria in these colonies consisted of 127 per cent more potential pathogens, while diverse colonies had 40per cent more potentially beneficial bacteria.

The scientists also found four different types of bacteria which are known to aid in food processing in other animals dominated bacterial communities in colonies, many of which had never been reported in honey bee colonies.

Like humans who consume probiotics for health benefits, bees were also found to have Bifidobacterium, which is found in yogurt.

They also discovered Succinivibrionaceae, a group of fermenters in cows and other similar animals, Oenococcus and Paralactobacillus, used by humans to ferment wine and food.

“We’ve never known how healthier bees are generated by genetic diversity, but this study provides strong clues,” Mattila said.

“Our findings suggest that genetically diverse honey bees have the advantage of broader microbial communities, which may be key to improving colony health and nutrition—and to understanding factors that can mitigate honey bee decline.”

The impacts of queen bees’ promiscuity has never been studied in this way previously, Newton explained.

“We found that genetically diverse colonies have a more diverse, healthful, active bacterial community,” he said.

“Conversely, genetically uniform colonies had a higher activity of potential plant and animal pathogens in their digestive tracts.”

Mattila has been investigating the benefits of genetic diversity in honey bees for seven years, and the latest discoveries are by far the most significant.

“It is our first insight into a means by which colony health could be improved by diversity,” she said.

“It shows one of the many ways that the function of a honey bee colony is enhanced when a queen mates promiscuously, which is an unusual behavior for social insects.

“Most bees, ants, and wasp queens mate singly and produce colonies of closely related, single family workers.

“Honey bee queens are different in this regard, and this behavior has resulted in extremely productive colonies that dominate their landscape.”

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