Honey bee research at Simon Fraser University, led by Mark Winston (Biology) and recently retired Keith Slessor (Chemistry) has been a unique inter-disciplinary collaboration, providing a synergism that resulted in a wealth of novel discoveries and stimulated even more questions yet to be answered. Honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) queen pheromone studies at SFU began with the bioassay-driven elucidation of her complex five-component mandibular gland pheromone (QMP, Kaminski L.A. et al, 1990. J. Chem. Ecol. 16:841-850; Slessor K.N. et al, 1988. Nature 332:354-356). The next research phase revealed the importance of QMP to many aspects of colony organization but also generated more questions. The role of QMP in worker reproduction (Hoover S.E.R. et al, 2003. Naturwiss. 90:477-480) and modulating comb construction (LeDoux M.N. et al, 2001. Insectes soc. 48:14-20) raises questions about the regulation and timing of worker and colony reproduction. QMP affects defensive behaviour in colonies with queens (Gervan N.I. et al. 2005. J. Apic. Res. 44:175-179) suggesting synergism between QMP and the queen or other semiochemicals. Four newly discovered components acting synergistically with QMP in retinue attraction (Keeling C.I. et al, 2003. P.N.A.S. 100:4486-4491) may have other unknown effects.
A third research avenue has been to investigate the primer and releaser effects of QMP in management. QMP may be used within the colony (Bee Boost) or sprayed on crops for pollination enhancement (Fruit Boost) where it may play a novel role in recruitment and possibly other in-hive behaviours (Higo H.A. et al, 1995. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 88:366-373). A new generation of technology is needed to develop applications for QMP and possibly other semiochemicals in management areas such as swarm prevention, comb construction and colony defense. Advances in understanding the honey bee’s pheromonal language will continue to provide insight into the success of this highly social insect.