Hi Aaron & all

>  I wonder if DCAs (drone congregation areas)
> form in early spring?

One of the reasons that UK strains recover quickly from hybridisation with
non native strains is the difference in mating strategy that occurs under
cool, marginal conditions.

Those strains that have the propensity for AVM (Apiary Vicininity Mating)
will win out by mating like with like.

The 'foreign' virgin queens will lose out waiting for good enough weather
for the drone assemblies to form.

http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/avm.html
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/matingbehaviour.html

> so perhaps it is incorrect to postulate the condition
> of a drone's sperm based on the queen's sperm

Aaron is right here... The activity and longevity of sperm in a queen's
spermatheca is due to secretions added by the queen and possibly the oxygen
supplied by the tracheal net. We are looking to duplicate the secretions for
use as semen diluent in order to produce homogenised semen that will last in
storage tubes much longer than it does at present.

I suspect that once full drone maturity has been reached, that there is a
gradual tail off of viability, but I have no handles on the shape of the
curve other than a guess that it is an exponential form.

I lifted the following sentance from one of my pages
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/semenviability.html
Semen can be stored for six to eight weeks at room temperature, with a
gradual reduction in viability. After 9 months this viability is reduced to
50%. (half life? is 18 months 25%?)

In this sentance I speculate on some figures, can anyone provide any more
accurate or properly researched figures?


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
Beekeeping and Bee Breeding Website
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman

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