Differences in pre-imaginal development of the honey bee Apis mellifera between in vitro and in-hive contexts

In vitro rearing of honey bees is becoming a widely employed procedure. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed its impact on brood development considering nutritional and social differences between both in vitro and in-hive rearing contexts. We compared developmental parameters between these two contexts using an intra-frame grafting procedure. We confirmed a grafting effect on development. However, pre-imaginal survival did not depend on the...