A queen’s tale: Assessing the hidden potential of beeswax specimens in Natural History Museum collections

TL;DR

This study shows that 19th-century beeswax queen cells can reveal preserved bees and proteins, offering insights into historical bee rearing and diet.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the potential of beeswax specimens as a new source for palaeoproteomic analysis and historical bee biology.

Findings

A 19th-century queen cell contained a perfectly preserved queen bee.

Proteins, including major royal jelly proteins, were successfully extracted from the cell.

The findings provide insights into historical queen rearing and diet practices.

Abstract

Natural history museum specimens of historical honeybees have been successfully used to explore the species’ genomic past, indicating fast and rapid changes between historical and modern specimens, possibly as a response to current challenges. In our study we explore a potential new untapped archive from natural history collections - specimens of historical beeswax. We examine an intact and closed
Apis mellifera mellifera queen cell specimen from the 19th century.

In our study, we examine the queen cell by X-ray Computed Tomography (CT). Subsequently, a micro-destructive approach was used to explore the possibility of protein extraction from the cell for a palaeoproteomic analysis.

Our results to reveal a perfectly preserved queen bee inside her cell. We were successful in extracting proteins from the residual material inside the queen cell, and were able to identify the material as containing several bee-related proteins, including major royal jelly proteins (MJRPs).

Our study show that studies on specimens such as the queen cell provide valuable information about the past rearing of queens, their diet, and their development, which is relevant for understanding current honeybees and their challenges.

This study investigated a 19th-century queen bee cell from a natural history museum to reveal a perfectly preserved queen bee and successfully extracted proteins from the inside of the cell with information about the development and diet of the bee. These findings offer valuable insights into historical bee rearing practices, which can help us better understand and address current challenges faced by honeybees.

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