Anniversary of a beekeeper’s discovery of thelytoky in Cape honey bees

Abstract

Significance:

• The laying workers of the Cape honey bee continue to negatively affect the South African beekeeping industry, with more losses suffered in the northern regions of the country.


• The reproductive parasites enter susceptible host colonies, activate their ovaries, and lay diploid eggs, leading to colony dwindling and collapse.


• Diploidy in eggs produced by unmated laying workers arises from thelytokous parthenogenesis, first discovered in honey bees by a hobbyist beekeeper.


• We examine the consequences of thelytokous parthenogenesis and outline what is being done to understand and limit the spread of the laying workers of the Cape honey bee.