Search for alternative methods for stimulating bumblebee queen of bombus terrestris L. during laboratory rearing

Laboratory-reared queens need to be stimulated to oviposition by external stimuli. the most common method includes social stimulation by male cocoons,contact with a worker,and contact with another queen. in the first part of this study,the possibilities to replace a live cocoon with cocoon imitations and to increase success byadding smell stimulus of live cocoons were surveyed. seventeen variants were tested in 4 experiments. the best results were achieved with stuffed male cocoons,but wool and polystyrene cocoons were also used. although these cocoons were able to trigger continuous incubation behavior,not even a monthly incubation of these imitations initiated oviposition. the fact that incubation does not lead to laying eggs is a somewhat surprising finding which has not been published yet. it also seems that the addition of a smell stimulus fails to reinforce stimulation if the tactile and olfactory stimuli are not concentrated into a single object. in the second part,we surveyed whether the presence of a worker with prevented physical contact has the same stimulating effect on the neighboring queen as the presence of another queen. the presence of a worker without physical contact with the queen did not stimulate laying of eggs and,moreover,it was found that the presence of another queen has no stimulatory effect if the physical contact is prevented. © 2014 zoological society of pakistan.