Biology Reference
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5.2.3 Selection for Pollen Hoarding
We initiated the Davis pollen-hoarding selection study in the spring of
1990. We examined about 400 commercial hives located in almond or-
chards near Davis, California (Figure 5.3). We selected 127 colonies
with approximately equal worker populations and measured the amount
of stored pollen. h e 10 colonies with the most stored pollen and the 10
colonies with the least were selected to initiate the high and low strains,
respectively. Virgin queens and drones were raised from each of the
colonies, and queens were mated to single drones by instrumental in-
semination (Figure 5.4) to establish i ve sublines of highs and lows. Each
generation, new virgin queens and drones were raised from the superior-
performing queen of each subline, and matings were performed be-
tween lines according to a circular breeding system (Figure 5.5).
We were interested in the ef ects of the selection on individual behav-
ior. h e studies of Nick Calderone showed that the high-strain bees of
Figure 5.3. Kim Fondrk inspecting hives in an almond orchard near Davis,
California. Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey.
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