Rearing honey bee larvae in vitro is an ideal method to study honey bee larval diseases or the toxicity of pesticides on honey bee larvae under standardized conditions. However, recent studies reported that a horizontal position may cause the deformation of emerged bees. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the emergence and deformation rates of honey bee (Apis mellifera ligustica) larvae reared in horizontal and vertical positions. The study was conducted under the same laboratory conditions with three experimental groups, non-capped or capped horizontal plates and capped vertical plates. However, our results demonstrated that the exhibited adult deformation rates of the horizontal plates were significantly higher (27.8% and 26.1%) than those of the vertical plates (11.9%). In particular, the most common symptoms were deformed wings and an abnormal abdomen in the horizontal plates. Additionally, adults reared on horizontal plates were substantially smaller (10.88 and 10.82 mm) than those on vertical plates (11.55 mm). Considering these conclusions, we suggest that a vertical rearing method is more suitable when considering the deformation rates of the control groups to verify the sublethal effects of pesticides on honey bees.
Keywords: Apis mellifera; deformation; emergence; honey bee; in vitro rearing; larvae.