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“Bumble bees” invitro rearing methods – a review

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Abstract

Bumble bees belong to the genus Bombus, order Hymenoptera and family Bombidae, which includes approximately 250 species all over the world, out of which 48 species are found in India. Bumble bees are effective pollinators with high pollination efficiency and increasing demand of pollination services has highlighted the concept of commercialization of these pollinators. They generally have an annual life cycle with three castes viz., queen, workers and drones; only the queen undergoes diapause during winters. The oviposition rate and colony initiation percentage of the bumble bees are affected by different factors viz., foundation queen, feed, hygienic conditions, nesting material and environmental conditions. Amongst these, nesting material as well as feeding methods are the most important factors that affect the success rate and queen acceptance. Hence, it is very important to know which nesting material and feed is highly accepted by queens for colony initiation and development. The present review summarizes the literature about different domiciles and feed used for invitro rearing of bumble bees and their effect on colony development.

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Acknowledgments

We express thanks to All India Coordinated Research Project on Honey bees and Pollinators, Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Development Project and Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan Himachal Pradesh for their assistance in conducting research and preparation of this article.

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  1. Department of Entomology, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P), 173230, India

    Harish K Sharma, Diksha Devi, Meena Thakur, Kiran Rana & Hema Prashad

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  1. Harish K Sharma
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Correspondence to Diksha Devi.

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Sharma, H.K., Devi, D., Thakur, M. et al. “Bumble bees” invitro rearing methods – a review. Int J Trop Insect Sci 42, 1045–1057 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-021-00675-5

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