On 23/04/16 20:37, Charles Linder wrote in response to the question 
about CO2:

Works well,  I know one queen breeder who gasses the bulk bees with Co2 in order to stock mating nucs.

However CO2 gassed bees thereafter never collect pollen! When I first 
read that I found it odd, so I tried it.
Made a batch (30) of nucs using bulk bees onto drawn comb with a queen 
cell and syrup feed. Half were gassed with CO2 and half were shaken and 
poured directly into the nucs. All were then kept locked in the dark  
for 3 days, before moving to the field.
12/15 non CO2 gassed bees progressed to  a normal queenright nuc 
collecting pollen and feeding brood as expected. 3 failures...2 
queenless and 1 drone laying virgin.
Only 1/15 nucs made with CO2 gassed bees progressed to brood rearing and 
pollen collection but much weaker and slower than the others .The 
remainder had queens which mated and laid eggs but no brood developed 
and no pollen was collected. All these colonies failed and dwindled away 
to nothing.
What is the mechanism whereby CO2 causes this effect?

PeterD
In Western Australia where autumn is offering some relief after a record 
long hot summer...for bees and beekeepers alike!

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html