Instrumental insemination
Artificially inseminating a queen to control which drones father her offspring.
Beekeeping
Definition
Because queens mate in flight with drones from other colonies, a breeder cannot otherwise control paternity. Instrumental insemination allows controlled crosses and is how breeding lines such as Buckfast are maintained. Open-mated daughters of an inseminated queen lose the controlled characteristics within a generation.
See also
Other beekeeping terms
Sources
Sources
- The Biology of the Honey Bee — Harvard University Press (1987) · Textbook
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