EDP Sciences Journals List
Home Document
Subscriber Authentication Point
Free access article

Issue Apidologie
Volume 33, Number 1, January-February 2002
Page(s) 75 - 86
DOI 10.1051/apido:2001008



Apidologie 33 (2002) 75-86
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2001008

The effect of drone comb on a honey bee colony's production of honey

Thomas D. Seeley

Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

(Received 15 May 2001; revised 28 August 2001; accepted 16 November 2001)

Abstract
This study examined the impact on a colony's honey production of providing it with a natural amount (20%) of drone comb. Over 3 summers, for the period mid May to late August, I measured the weight gains of 10 colonies, 5 with drone comb and 5 without it. Colonies with drone comb gained only 25.2 $\pm$ 16.0 kg whereas those without drone comb gained 48.8 $\pm$ 14.8 kg. Colonies with drone comb also had a higher mean rate of drone flights and a lower incidence of drone comb building. The lower honey yield of colonies with drone comb apparently arises, at least in part, because drone comb fosters drone rearing and the rearing and maintenance of drones is costly. I suggest that providing colonies with drone comb, as part of a program of controlling Varroa destructor without pesticides, may still be desirable since killing drone brood to kill mites may largely eliminate the negative effect of drone comb on honey yields.


Key words: comb foundation / drone / drone comb / honey bee / honey production

Correspondence and reprints: Thomas D. Seeley
    e-mail: tds5@cornell.edu

© INRA, EDP Sciences, DIB, AGIB 2002


What is OpenURL?

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.
  • If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
  • You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
  • You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.