Prospects for short-term sperm storage of honeybee drones

Abstract

Preserving the sperm of honeybee drones in combination with instrumental insemination of queen bees is an effective strategy for the conservation of species and their genetic diversity. The method of low-temperature freezing of sperm drones solves the problem of preserving the genetic resources of honeybee and is necessary for selection and genetic research. In practical beekeeping, there is a need to develop a technology for the drone semen of preserving at positive temperatures without cryopreservation, with the aim of year-round artificial insemination of queen bees. But today, honeybee is the only object for which these methods are at the stage of experimental development. This article presents the results of studies on the short-term storage at positive temperatures of honeybee drones of the sperm. A comparative assessment of diluted sperm in nutrient medium and undiluted using antimicrobial agents is given of the methods of storage. Control and experimental samples of the sperm were examined after 30 and 60 days of storage using methods for assessing the drone semen quality and physiological parameters of artificially inseminated honeybee queens. The study evaluated: the number of spermatozoa entering the spermatheca of queen bee by counting the Goryaev camera, the viability of spermatozoa by the methods of supravital staining of trypan blue and fluorescence microscopy using DNA dyes Hoechst, PI. According to the results of studies, in the sample with Metrogyl dent after 60 days of storage at 24-26 0C were found 73% of viable spermatozoa. After cooling at 3 ° C for 60 days, the native spermatozoa samples without a means of bacterial contamination had a viability of 95%. The drones semen saving for 2 months in a protein-free environment Insect-XPRESSTM (pH 6.1) of the possibility.