The Effect of Royalactin on Formation of Queen Bees

The Effect of Royalactin on Formation of Queen Bees

Lee Isaacson – Warren Mott High School

Raymond Marchionda – Warren Mott High School

Introduction

• For years, bees have been domesticated by man and used for their beeswax to make candles, wax tablets, and more modern developments like cosmetics and pharmaceuticals

Isaacson -- Marchionda 2

Purpose of Experiment

• The researchers wanted to learn more about Apis mellifera, or honey bees, and how to manipulate hives


Background information

• The Queen Bee runs the hive:– She uses pheromones to communicate all the

hives actions– Every bee is an offspring of the queen– She tells the bees when to birth a new queen

when she is getting too old



• Worker bees have wax glands similar to our sweat glands

• The use their secretions to build the hive along with the honey combs inside of it

• Without a queen, these bees wouldn’t build a complete hive, or a queen cell



• Queen bees are typically born into a cell which is built to extend from the bottom of the hive

• Emergency queens can be birthed into cells on the face of a honeycomb



• Nurse Bees secrete Royal Jelly, or royalactin, from the tops of their heads

• It is a complex mixture of water, proteins, sugars, lipids, vitamins and amino acids

• Bees meant to develop into queens are exclusively fed this Royal Jelly


What Was Done

• The researchers fed bee eggs and larvae different types of food

• Food that was fed to the bees included:– Royalactin– Standard food– Mixture of royalactin and standard food

• The researchers wanted to see if a significant amount of larvae would turn into Queen Bees


Problem Statement

• Is it possible to artificially produce Queen Bees by using royalactin (Royal Jelly) alone?


Hypothesis

• The increase in the amount of worker bees that will develop into Queen Bees with artificial feeding of royalactin will be significant


Materials

2 mL Syringe Incubator Protective Bee Suit

4 oz. Royalactin

Sharps Container

Bee PollenBee Honey

HoneycombBee Larvae

Observation Chamber


How To Make Standard Food

• Make the standard food by mixing: – 50 mL of honey – 1.5 g of pollen – 20 mL of water


How To Make Food Mixture

• Make the mixture by combining: – 25 mL Standard Food– 25 mL Royalactin


Procedures

• Fill three syringes, one with royalactin, one with standard food, and one with the mixture of both

• With the protective bee suit on, fill 30 cells with 2 mL of royalactin

• Fill 30 cells with 2 mL of the half royalctin/half standard food mix

• Fill 30 cells with 2 mL of standard food

• Heat the incubator to a temperature of 94°FIsaacson -- Marchionda 14

Procedures Cont.

• Put the honeycomb into the observation chamber.

• Place the observation chamber into the incubator.

• Repeat steps each day• Check on the honeycomb each day and

record any noticeable changes in each chamber.

• On day 15 check to see if any queen bees have formed.


Video


Observations

• All trials ran smoothly.

• Some cells were covered with wax earlier than others.


Data Measured

• The independent variables for the experiment were which bees were fed, and the amount and type of food they were fed

• The dependent variable for the experiment was the type/length of the bee on day 15.


Test Performed

• A 2-Proportion Z test was performed because two proportions were being compared to each other to test for significance

• Performed twice:– Royalactin vs. Standard– Mixture vs. Standard


Assumptions


Equation

• The equation for a 2-Proportion Z test is…

Null: H0: p1 = p2 Alternative: Ha: p1 ≠ p2

)11

)(ˆ1(ˆ

ˆˆ

21

21

nnpp

ppz


Standard Food Results


Mixture Food Results


Royalactin Results


Testing for Growth

• Because there were no queen bees produced, the researchers tested for any significant growth amongst the bees. The bees were considered to have experienced significant growth if their length was greater than 11mm and their width was greater than 5mm.


Royalactin Results


Mixture Food Results


Percent of Bees with Significant Growth

Standard = 0% Mixture = 3.3% Royalactin = 26.6%


Results for Royalactin & Standard

z = 3.0382 P-Value = 0.0024

Results show a significant amount of bees experienced significant growth. A P-Value of 0.0024 shows that there is a 0.24% that these results would occur again by chance alone.


Results for Mixture and Standard

z = 1.0084 P-Value = 0.3132

Results show there was not a significant amount of bees that experienced significant growth. A P-Value of 0.3132 shows that there is a 31% that these results would occur again by chance alone.


Conclusion

• After running a total of 90 trials, the researcher’s hypothesis was rejected

• Queen Bees were not formed after being fed royalactin during development


Conclusion

• According to the 2-proportion z test, no trials produced a significant amount of Queen Bees

• There was a significant amount of bees fed royalactin that experienced significant growth


Why Royalactin?

• The bees that were fed only royalactin received all the nutrients necessary to show greater developments while the other bees didn’t receive enough of the extra nutrients.


Errors

• The mixture of honey, pollen and royalactin had less royalactin near the end of the feeding process because it began to run out


Design Flaws

• Other bees could have eaten the royalactin meant for larva

• Cold temperatures outside may have stunted growth


Further Research

• The effect of royalactin on growth of other insects, like ladybugs

• The use of larger cells or queen chambers• Test the behavior of fully grown bees after

being fed royalactin


Real World Applications

• To provide beekeepers a way of expanding the number of hives producing honey through Queen Rearing

• Varroa mites and herbicides can kill bees or the queen, so these methods could possibly replace a queen


Recap

• Wanted to learn more about bees and manipulating hives

• A 2-proportion z test was used• No Queen Bees were formed, although

significant growth was observed• Hypothesis was rejected• Royalactin caused a significant amount of

bees to experience significant growth


Acknowledgments

• Eileen Byrnes• Draper, Royal W. “All About Royal Jelly.” All About Royal Jelly. Draper’s

Super Bee Apiaries, Inc., 2012. Web. 18 Sept. 2012 <http://www.draperbee.com/info/royaljelly.htm>

• Hamdan, Khalil. "Raising Honey Queen Bees." Country Rubes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.countryrubes.com/images/Raising_Honey_Bee_Queens_8_3

0_10.pdf>.• Hoff, Mary. "Male or Female? For Honeybees, a Single Gene Makes All the

Difference.” PLOS Biology. Public Library of Science, 20 Oct. 2009. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. <http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000186>

• "Honey Bee: Pictures, Information, Classification and More." Honey Bee: Pictures, Information, Classification and More. Microsoft Cooperation, 2007. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/ insects/bees/honey_bee/>.Isaacson -- Marchionda 40

Acknowledgments

• Kamakura, Masaki. "Royalactin Induces Queen Differentiation in Honeybees.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 26 May 2011. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516106>.

• Peterson, Ivars. "Science News Online (7/24/99): The Honeycomb Conjecture.” Science News Online (7/24/99): The Honeycomb Conjecture. Science Service, 24 July 1999. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc99/7_24_99/bob2.htm>.

• Prgude, Rusida. “The Composition of Royal Jelly.” Maticna Mlijec Memisevic. Prilikom Koristenja, 10 Apr. 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.

• "Royal Jelly." Drugs Information Online. Wolters Kluwer Health, 2009. Web. 18 Sept 2012. <http://www.drugs.com/npp/royal-jelly.html>.


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The Effect of Royalactin on Formation of Queen Bees