Some of the research objectives currently being explored in the laboratory include:
Reproductive biology of honey bee queens and drones
- Determine the effects of queen and drone quality on colony growth
- Explore the reproductive biology of drones. What makes a good drone?
- Test the effect of commonly used miticides on queen and drone quality
- Test the effects of queen quality on supersedure and colony survival
- Explore the mechanisms of queen supersedure, including the behavioral interactions among nestmates. Can supesedure be predicted? Prevented?
- Assess the current (local and national) rate of supersedure in colonies headed by naturally mated queens
Behavioral ecology of swarming in honey bees
- Investigate the mechanisms of colony fissioning in Africanized honey bees
- Observe the fissioning patterns in afterswarms
- Explore the role of drones during swarming
- Detect the odors released during swarm departure
- Assess the sequence of events that leads a colony to swarm
- Observe how the queen is treated in the weeks prior to swarming
Other areas of interest:
- Pollination biology of honey bees, wild bees, and stingless honey bees
- Breeding program to create better, locally adapted queens
- Toxicology and pathology in TX honey bee populations
- Colony fissioning in other swarm-forming social insect species
