The Potential of Instrumental Insemination for Sustainable Honeybee Breeding

Mating control is crucial in honeybee breeding and commonly guaranteed by bringing virgin queens to isolated mating stations (IMS) for their nuptial flights. However, most breeding programs struggle to provide sufficiently many IMS. Research institutions routinely perform instrumental insemination of honeybees, but its potential to substitute IMS in breeding programs has not been sufficiently studied. We performed stochastic simulations to compare instrumental insemination strategies and mating on IMS in terms of genetic progress and inbreeding development. We focused on the role of paternal generation intervals, which can be shortened to two years with instrumental insemination in comparison to three years when using IMS. After 70 years, instrumental insemination yielded up to 42% higher genetic gain than IMS strategies—particularly with few available mating sites. Inbreeding rates with instrumental insemination and IMS were comparable. When the paternal generation interval in instrumental insemination was stretched to three years, the number of drone producers required for sustainable breeding was reduced substantially. In contrast, when shortening the interval to two years, it yielded the highest generational inbreeding rates (up to 2.28%). Overall, instrumental insemination with drones from a single colony appears as a viable strategy for honeybee breeding and a promising alternative to IMS.