> ...could you please explain what the "stop solution" is?
 
In artificial insemination (AM in 'my' sense) the sperm from several
drones is USUALLY NOT diluted with sperm dilution buffer. However,
one uses sperm dilution buffer to handle such a small volume of sperm.
The largest portion of a syringe is filled with sperm dilution buffer
and just a little air bubble separates the sperm from the buffer. The
buffer's function is only to replace the air in the syringe because
as fluid it is not compressible to the degree air is and hence enables
accurate small volume transfers. I do not know where the word 'stop'
originates from, perhaps because the buffer sets the limit what has to
be injected into the queen.
Obviously, there is a chance that sperm comes into contact with the
fluid used as 'stop solution'. So it is recommended to use the same
fluid that would be used in real sperm dilution.
There are several different recipes for such buffers. One of them is
e.g. Hyes-Buffer (0.9 percent NaCl, 0.02 percent CaCl2, 0.02 percent
KCl, 0.01 percent NaHCO3, in distilled water at pH 8.5).
 
> Also, could you please say what the 1919 reference to Barrett appeared in?
 
My citation refers to the publication of Frank Neumann in the Deutsches
Bienenjournal 3/98, but with in this article there is no detailed
reference list.
 
> Is the Neumann article in Deutsches Bienenjournal in English?
 
No, sorry, it is in German.
 
>         Apparently it is possible to control the genetics of both selected
> queens And selected drone donors through this process, and if so , does that
> make it unnecessary to do artificial insemination to accomplish the same
> thing? Why would anyone prefer to do artificial insemination if this
> technique is available?
 
Yes, you could control the male side of reproduction by artificial
fertilisation as you do with the aid of artificial insemination
(AM) (but why the queen side!?).
 
I see the difference between the both mainly in the number of
fertilisation events you control. An artificially inseminated queen
will produce thousands of workers and queens that carry the genes
of the drones you used for insemination. With artificial
fertilisation you only produce a few individuals of the
desired genetic constitution. However, what you need for breeding are
only a few individuals (queens) to produce males (sperm) and eggs!
 
A problem might be, however, that you need a performance test for your
breeder colonies to select the colonies for further breeding. But most
commercially interesting traits (honey yield, etc.) result from
workers AND the queen. With artificial fertilisation used as I
mentioned, the workers influence the result of the performance test
but carry only half the genes (those from her mother) you select for.
In short: you can not test what you want to.
 
> Sorry to ask so many questions but it really is interesting.
 
Thanks for asking!!! I am curious myself why this technique
has not become more popular so far.
Or is someone on this list already practising AF?
 
--
Michael Haberl
Hessische Landesanstalt fuer Tierzucht, Abt. Bienenzucht
Erlenstr. 9, 35274 Kirchhain, Germany, 51n 9w
Tel: ++49-6422-9406-12
Fax: ++49-6422-9406-33
[log in to unmask]