Differences in pre-imaginal development of the honey bee Apis mellifera between in vitro and in-hive contexts

Abstract

In vitro rearing of honey bees is becoming a widely employed procedure. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed its impact on brood development considering nutritional and social differences between both in vitro and in-hive rearing contexts. We compared developmental parameters between these two contexts using an intraframe grafting procedure. We confirmed a grafting effect on development. However, pre-imaginal survival did not depend on the rearing procedure. The correlation in mortality between groups of larvae (exposed or not to grafting) was independent of the rearing context suggesting transmission of inheritable and infectious factors. In addition, the comparison between contexts showed that in vitro larvae had delayed molting and achieved emergence 1.57 days later. Furthermore, in vitro imagoes emerged with lower weight and shorter wing length than in-hive bees. Our results strengthen the idea that there is an in vitro phenotype as a consequence of phenotypic plasticity