Analyses of the relative contributions of multiple mating, and recombination rate to intra-colonial genetic diversity in honey bees

Genetic diversity is important in the Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera). High levels of genetic diversity enhance disease resistance, division of labor, and decrease the risk of diploid drone production at the colony level. This project applies statistical simulations to evaluate the relative contributions of multiple mating and recombination rate to colony genetic diversity in Apis mellifera. Quantifying the genotypic variance among workers allows the re-evaluation of these two variables, assuming different distributions of paternity, loci number, individual loci effect sizes, chromosome length, and colony size. The simulation results will be compared to empirical findings from the literature, leading to conclusions about the evolutionary explanations of the excessive mating frequency and recombination rate of honey bee queens.