Practical protocol for honey bee immobilization and oral administration of drugs and pathogens COMMENT

Some fields in honey bee research require oral administration of substances to bees individually. This paper describes a relatively easy, practical, and reversible method for harnessing and oral feeding of honey bees. Individual bees are immobilized on a piece of balsa wood stick with two pins crossed on the junction between thorax and abdomen. Restrained bees can then easily be fed with a specific amount of chemical or pathogen in sucrose solution by inducing proboscis extension reflex. Important aspects and possible drawbacks of the method are also discussed.