Use of Pheromones in Beekeeping

Dr. Mark Winston and his team, working at Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada), were able to synthesize the QMP pheromone (Winston et. Al., 1992). This discovery was patented and Phero Tech Inc. of Delta, B.C. was licensed to produce the pheromone. QMP is the active ingredient of two Phero Tech products: BEE BOOST for honey bee management; and, FRUIT BOOST for enhanced crop pollination.

Pedersen Apiaries is a family corporation engaged in commercial beekeeping located in west-central Saskatchewan. Involved in this operation are my two brothers, Edmund Pedersen, Gilbert Pedersen, Gil’s daughter Karen, and myself. We are basically involved in honey production and, to a lesser extent, queen raising. We have been raising queens for more than 10 years – initially, for our own replacement needs only but, as experience has been accumulated, for sale to other beekeepers. Our queen sales have increased steadily over the last several years and include beekeepers in most Canadian provinces. The scale of the operation requires the use of many mating units to ensure the required supply of mated queens.

Early in the game we decided, for reasons of economy, to use small nucleus hives, or “baby nucs” for queen mating purposes. After experimenting with several designs, we settled on a twin unit with over all dimensions of 508 mm long x 245 mm wide x 140 mm deep. This is divided into two compartments, each of which measure, on the inside, 235 mm x 205 mm x 140 mm. Each compartment has five small combs designed to fit within this space. We now have 500 of these twin units, or the capacity to have up to 1,000 queens mated at each round of queen cell introduction.

Testing a BEE BOOST strip by laying it on a hive lid.
Several bees are investigating the strip after a few minutes.

Getting bees established in these small nucs at the geginning of the season has been an ongoing problem. Over the years we have tried various methods to overcome this difficulty. One solution was to introduce laying queens, with some bees into one or more of the nucs. As the queen lays eggs, the individual combs and adhering bees can be removed and used to establish a new nuc. A queen cell is than introrduced to this new nuc. Extra bees must then be added to the original unit with the laying queeen. This system works, but is slow and cumbersome. Another method we tried was to take the empty nucs out to the regular bee yards and dump bees into the units. Then the nucs were taken back to the mating yards and queen cells introduced. In theory, the queen peromones adhering to the viable cells will serve to keep the bees in these nucs. In practice what happens is that, prior to queen emergence, the bees will tend to abandon some nucs and drift to others. So in a mating yard you will end up with some over populated nucs and some with no bees at all.

At the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Association annual conference in Saskatoon in February of 1996, Doug McCutchion, was present with his display of Bee Books and Things. Among his stock of posters of bees and related sub jects, and many books devoted to beekeeping, he also had some samples of BEE BOOST, plastic strips impregnated with Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP). Phero Tech Inc. produces and markets BEE BOOST with QMP. Doug and I discussed the merits of this product as a possible solution to our problems in maintaining mating nucs. I decided to use the BEE BOOST on a trial basis. Accordingly, I purchased a package of 50 BEE BOOST strips. Later that same winter I attended the Bee Masters Short Course at Simon Fraser University. Here, Dr. Winston gave a discourse on his team's effort in isolating and synthesizing the QMP. If I had not already committed myself to a trial, this would have convinced me to do so.

On the subject of life expectancy of the BEE BOOST strips, the first summer after purchasing strips, we had a dramatic example of their potency. Ed was adding strips to combs in a swarm trap in one yard to see if they would attract swarms. In the process of his work he accidentally dropped a couple of strips into tall grass at the edge of the yard. Deeming it uneconomical to try searching for such small items in the deep grass, he just left them lie. His main purpose in the yard that day was to tip off all the full honey supers. When he returned to the yard the next morning to pickup the supers, now free of bees, he found a huge cluster of bees on the grass and small shrubs where he had dropped the BEE BOOST. There were enough bees in this cluster to populate three new hives. After collecting the last of the bees, we searched the ground where the cluster seemed to be centered. Sure enough, the two errant strips were located. This time they were retrieved so there would be no repeat performance.

We believe that both the QMP (BEE BOOST) and the Nasanov (SWARM CATCH) pheromones are very important tools for use in beekeeping. There is no question as to the effectiveness of the BEE BOOST in holding bees in queenless units. The SWARM CATCH lures, while not as unequivocally effective as the BEE BOOST strips, still have an overall positive value in attracting swarms into swarm traps. Because of the evident longevity of these products, we consider that the cost is negligible when compared with their importance. Pheromones are a very important addition to beekeeping technology in the twentieth century. It is safe to assume that their usefulness will continue into the future.

For additional information about BEE BOOST, SWARM CATCH and FRUIT BOOST, please contact Phero Tech Inc. at 1-800-665-0076, sales@pherotech.com, www.pherotech.com.

Blum, M.S. 1992. Honey bee pheromones in The Hive and the Honey Bee, revised edition (Dadant and Sons: Hamilton, Illinois), pages 385-389.

Winston, M.L.; and K.N. Slessor. 1992. The essence of royalty: honey bee queen pheromone. American Scientist. 80:374-385.