Do queens suffer from temperature stress?

‘Poor queens’ continue to be identified as a main factor contributing to colony losses. Previous experiments have shown that queens can be exposed to temperature extremes during transport and these temperature events can decrease the viability of the sperm stored in the queen’s spermatheca. We set up a field experiment to evaluate the effect of temperature-induced reductions in sperm viability on queen and colony performance. The results obtained on brood pattern, queen survival, and colony productivity will be discussed.