Oviposition Rates of Instrumentally Inseminated and Naturally Mated Queen Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Egg-laying rates of queen honey bees, Apis mellifera L., were measured in colonies containing no brood and ca. 3,000 or 12,000 worker bees. Naturally mated queens were heavier and laid more eggs per day than instrumentally inseminated queens. CO2 narcosis caused weight loss in queens and may account for at least some of the difference. When nitrogen narcosis replaced carbon dioxide during instrumental insemination, queen weights increased, but still did not equal those of naturally mated queens that received no narcosis. The correlation between egg-laying rate and queen weight was r = 0.73 ( n = 112).