Submitted by: Dr. Marina Carla Bezerra da Silva (DVM), PhD student, Department of Veterinary Pathology, WCVM
Did you know that worker honeybees are the only bees used in agrochemical risk assessment? Although the queen and drones are in charge of reproduction within the hives, only the workers are subjected to the toxicological risk assessment. An excellent in vitro toxicological exposure for workers is currently available for researchers. Over the past few decades, many studies that attempted to raise male honeybees in vitro have failed; however, a successful in vitro protocol for rearing male honeybees for future agrochemical risk assessment was developed in our lab in 2023. This stunning image shows the first curious male honeybee emerging from the plate in the lab instead of its usual wax comb. So, what is the male honeybee looking for?
Funding: Mitacs, Bayer, Interprovincial Undergraduate Summer Research Award (IUSRA), Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission, Manitoba Canola Growers, SaskCanola, British Columbia Blueberry Council, BASF, personal Dean’s scholarship.
