The Effect of Royalactin on the Formation of Queen Bees
Whether it is a naturally occurring or domesticated beehive, the hive cannot be sustained without the presence of a queen bee. The queen is the only bee to lay eggs and without it, the hive would not function properly. Not only do they keep the hive functional, but they are also used in the business of queen rearing. The problem facing the researchers was whether or not queen bees could be produced by feeding larva royalactin alone. To perform this experiment, the researchers retrieved a honeycomb from a domesticated beehive, making sure that there were enough eggs laid in the cells to perform the experiment. The researchers then fed these eggs different amount of royalactin including one group of eggs that were fed standard bee food. After fifteen days, each cell’s wax seal was broken and the length of the pupa was recorded. Each population was analyzed to determine if any eggs had developed into queen bees. None of the populations had any bees that met the minimum size requirements to be considered a queen. The researchers then decided to test whether or not the number of bees that had significantly grown was significant. A 2-Proportion Z Test was used to compare the two samples fed the different amounts of royalactin to the sample of bees fed standard food. It was determined that the sample fed only royalactin had a significant amount of bees that experienced significant growth
Research Done By:
Lee Isaacson
WarrenMottHigh School
Raymond Marchionda
WarrenMottHigh School
Warren Consolidated Schools