Population origin, body mass, and viral infections influence drone honey bee (Apis mellifera) heat tolerance

Abstract

Extreme temperatures associated with climate change are expected to impact the physiology and fertility of a variety of insects, including honey bees. Most previous work has focused on female honey bees, and comparatively little research has investigated how heat exposure affects males (drones). To address this gap, we tested how body mass, viral infections, Africanization, and geographic origin (including stocks from Australia, California, and Ukraine as well as diverse locations within British Columbia, Canada) influenced drone and sperm heat tolerance. We found that individual body size was highly influential, with heavier drones being more likely to survive a heat challenge than smaller drones. Drones originating from feral colonies in Southern California (which are enriched for African genetics) were also more likely to survive a heat challenge than drones originating from commercially-supplied Californian stock. We found no association between drone mass and thermal tolerance of sperm over time in an in vitro challenge assay, but experimental viral infection decreased the heat tolerance of sperm. Overall, there is ample variation in sperm heat tolerance, with sperm from some groups displaying remarkable heat resilience and sperm from others being highly sensitive, with additional factors influencing heat tolerance of the drones themselves.