WN °
Current Apicultural Research
edition of the Newsletter will contain an article about a current topic of bee research. If you are a bee scientist working on a new idea then it may be possible to feature your work here. To start the series we have an article about the work of a famous bee scientist, Dr. John B. Free, who leads the bee research at Rothamsted Experimental Station in the UK. From now on each
A
lure that attracts worker honeybees
colony of honeybees, members of the colony can communicate with one another by releasing chemical substances which have a particular odour. These substances used for communication are known as pheromones and have
In
a
been discovered in many
of the honeybee pheromones is produced by a gland near the tip of the abdomen of the worker bee, and this is known as Nasonov pheromone, named after its discoverer. The odour of Nasonov pheromone attracts honeybees and in this way individuals are able to locate the rest of their colony.
snecies, including
man.
One
Dr. Free and his team at Rothamsted haye developed a lure that can attract honeybees. The lure has a similar composition to the Nasonov pheromone which consists of seven terpenoid chemicals: geraniol, nerolic and geranic acidg (E)- and (Z)- citral and (2,B)~farnesol and nerol. To find the composition of lure most attractive to bees, the researchers Carried out experiments in a bdee-proof enclosure made of nylon mesh. Inside the enclosure a machine slowly rotated wire cages containing polyethy-— lene blocks dosed with the chemicals to be tested. Worker bees were put on the floor of the enclosure, and they were watched as they began to cluster on one or more of the cages containing the chemicals being tested. Components
of the lure were tested singly and in various combinations, using either It very pure chemicals or less pure commercially available preparations. was found that a mixture of all 7 components of the Nasonov pheromone in equal proportions was at least as attractive as a mixture of the components in natural proportions, and when the mixture was made from commercially available components, it was quite as attractive to the bees as a mixture Made from
highly purified components.
