Queen Rearing through Artificial Insemination: Step-by-Step Guide

8. Inject a specified amount of sperm directly into the median oviduct (Figure 19).

• The standard dose is 8 to 12 microliters per queen. When administering a 12-microliter sperm dose, release the queen directly into her mating nucleus colony to assist with sperm migration, or administer two doses of 6 microliters 48 hours apart.
• With practice, sperm injection is performed quickly and accurately, taking only a few seconds per queen.

9. After insemination, remove the syringe tip, collect a small air bubble and a small drop of saline solution (~0.5 microliters) to use before the next insemination.

• Keep a drop of saline at the tip to prevent any remaining sperm from drying and to facilitate the start of the next sperm collection.
• If inseminating queens with different drones and precise genetic crosses are important, wash the insemination tip with distilled water and then saline solution to fully clear the syringe of sperm from the previous drone.

10. Release the queen from the holder, place her in a cage, and return her to her nucleus colony.

3.4. Dissection of the Sperm Sac Area Examining the sperm sac to determine the success rate of insemination is helpful in learning the insemination process. Sperm migration requires about 40 hours after insemination. After insemination, a group of queens can be kept in a rearing colony for testing.

Sperm Sac Dissection Process

1. Restrain the queen by pressing on her head and thorax.

2. Grasp the end of the queen's abdominal segments from above and below.

3. Detach the segments from the rest of the queen’s body using your nail or forceps.

• The sperm sac is a white, spherical structure about 1 mm in diameter, appearing rough due to the covering of a tracheal network.
• 4. Extract the sperm sac from the body cavity using your nail or forceps.
• 5. To remove the tracheal network, gently roll the sperm sac between your fingers. The network will form a small white mass.
• The shade and density of the sperm sac indicate the relative success of the queen’s insemination.
• The sperm sac of a virgin queen is clear.
• An opaque or milky appearance of the sperm sac indicates inadequate insemination or queen infertility.
• For a fully inseminated queen, the sperm sac has a cream color with a marbled swirl pattern.

4. Queen and Drone Maintenance and Factors Affecting Queen Performance

With proper care, artificially inseminated queens are capable of leading productive colonies and withstanding the rigors of field performance testing. Many factors affecting queen performance can be optimized through appropriate beekeeping management practices. Insemination quality, both in terms of technique and hygiene, is crucial. The treatment of queens before and after insemination will affect sperm storage and queen performance. Natural conditions should be maintained as much as possible. We will cover this topic in another post. Click here to read the post “Queen and Drone Maintenance After Artificial Insemination and Factors Influencing Queen Performance.”