A drone-laying colony …
- Accepts the introduction of a mated queen
- Accepts the introduction of a virgin queen
- Accepts the introduction of a queen cell whose pupa is about to emerge
- Can rear a queen cell from fresh open brood
- Allows an acceleration of varroa reproduction
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Correct answer: 5
After the accidental loss of the queen or the failure of requeening, the level of queen pheromones drops rapidly, and the diffusion of pheromones from the remaining sealed brood decreases as the last workers emerge. Gradually, the inhibition of the development of the workers’ reproductive organs disappears, and one or more workers become pseudo-queens (their worker morphology does not change). Their ovaries progressively develop, and unfertilized eggs (haploid oocytes) differentiate in preparation for being laid. The laying of eggs destined to become males (emergence on day 24 instead of day 21 for workers) allows the reproduction rate of the varroa mite to triple!
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