Applications of queen honey bee mandibular pheromone for beekeeping and crop pollination
Author(s)
Mark L Winston And Keith N Slessor
Abstract
Throughout history, scientific expertise and beekeeping practices have progressed together to improve colony productivity and enhance crop pollination. The first 'bee scientists' left us cave paintings indicating some of the earliest advances: the use of smoke to pacify bees, and very simple hives. Later on, bee science became more sophisticated, and evidence of modern progress abounds. For example, our understanding of nest design and colony life history led to the Langstroth movable frame hive and modern swarm control techniques, knowledge about mating resulted in instrumental insemination, and our comprehension of how bees rear queens has led to our ability to induce colonies to rear many more queens than they normally would.
