Anniversary of a beekeeper’s discovery of thelytoky in Cape honey bees

Significance: The laying workers of the Cape honey bee continue to negatively affect the South African beekeeping industry, with more losses suffered in the northern regions of the country. The reproductive parasites enter susceptible host colonies, activate their ovaries, and lay diploid eggs, leading to colony dwindling and collapse. Diploidy in eggs produced by unmated laying workers arises from thelytokous parthenogenesis, first discovered in honey bees by a hobbyist beekeeper. We examine the consequences of thelytokous parthenogenesis and outline what is being done to understand and limit the spread of the laying workers of the Cape honey bee