Microsatellite analysis of sperm admixture in honeybee

Sperm usage was investigated in an instrumentally inseminated honeybee quee n. Her progeny were examined in the first 3 months of the egg-laying period using a microsatellite marker, Frequencies of different subfamilies differ ed significantly from one month to another. However, there was no evidence for sperm displacement or sperm precedence of a specific male in the worker progeny. The variance of subfamily proportions decreased over time suggest ing that sperm admixture in the spermatheca was incomplete at the beginning of the egg-laying period of the queen and improved progressively during th e first months after mating.