LASI's mission is to establish an international centre of research excellence, to train the next generation of bee scientists and to be a resource for UK beekeepers. Hygienic bees uncap and eject dying brood from cells. LASI is screening colonies of British black bees for hygienic behaviour. These will be used in queen rearing. LASI is also using mathematical techniques to model the spread of bee diseases.
Results indicate that treated nucs abscond less frequently on being set up.
It is small enough to use as a queen rearing nuc but large enough to overwinter. Such dual-purpose hives can increase the season for queen rearing and sale. Workers, for example, have ovaries and lay unfertilized, male, eggs. However, if one worker lays an egg another normally eats it. LASI is investigating how workers can tell which eggs are queen-laid and how some workers lay eggs that escape policing.