New approach to the study of division of labour in the honeybee colony (Apis mellifera L)

Various levels of wax deprivation in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies induced shifts in the temporal pattern of division of labour in worker honey bees. The most extreme wax stress induced an earlier onset of foraging, and an increase in comb building and the production of wax scales. Moderate wax stress induced only an increase in comb building and production of wax scales. No significant differences in development of hypopharyngeal gland acinal diameter were found, suggesting that production of wax and brood food and associated behaviour patterns develop and decline independently. The graded changes in behavioural response to various levels of stress found in this study support the concept of a reserve labour force in honey bee colonies, which can respond to stress through shifts in caste ontogeny.

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ESTIMATING HERITABILITIES OF WORKER CHARACTERS : A NEW APPROACH USING LAYING WORKERS OF THE CAPE HONEYBEE (APIS MELLIFERA CAPENSIS ESCH.)

Apidologie ◽

10.1051/apido:19850105 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 47-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Robin F.A. MORITZ ◽

Andreas KLEPSCH

Keyword(s):

Apis Mellifera ◽

Apis Mellifera Capensis ◽

New Approach ◽

Cape Honeybee ◽

Laying Workers

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Food transmission within the honeybee community

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.1952.0042 ◽

1952 ◽

Vol 140 (898) ◽

pp. 43-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 78

Keyword(s):

Mutual Recognition ◽

Division Of Labour ◽

Radioactive Phosphorus ◽

Sugar Syrup ◽

Honeybee Colony

Six bees were trained to a dish, from which they collected 20 ml. of sugar-syrup containing radioactive phosphorus. The distribution of radioactivity among the bees and larvae of their colony of 24 500 bees was then studied. 62 % of the foragers and 16 to 21 % of all the bees in the hive were radioactive within 4 h. 76 % of the foragers and 43 to 60 % of all the bees were radioactive within 27 h. The nurse bees were significantly less radioactive than the house bees and the foragers significantly more so. Within 48 h all the large larvae in unsealed cells were radioactive. These results are attributed to widespread food transmission. Food transmission is suggested as the foundation of the division of labour within the honeybee community and of the similar odour produced by the members of each colony, which serves for mutual recognition. Food transmission would enable slow-acting insecticides contained in their food to be widely distributed among the members of a honeybee colony.

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Age structure is critical to the population dynamics and survival of honeybee colonies

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.160444 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (11) ◽

pp. 160444 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

M. I. Betti ◽

L. M. Wahl ◽

M. Zamir

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Age Structure ◽

Division Of Labour ◽

Natural Consequence ◽

Substantial Impact ◽

Severity Of Disease ◽

Bee Colony ◽

Honeybee Colony ◽

Age Structured ◽

Over Time

Age structure is an important feature of the division of labour within honeybee colonies, but its effects on colony dynamics have rarely been explored. We present a model of a honeybee colony that incorporates this key feature, and use this model to explore the effects of both winter and disease on the fate of the colony. The model offers a novel explanation for the frequently observed phenomenon of ‘spring dwindle’, which emerges as a natural consequence of the age-structured dynamics. Furthermore, the results indicate that a model taking age structure into account markedly affects the predicted timing and severity of disease within a bee colony. The timing of the onset of disease with respect to the changing seasons may also have a substantial impact on the fate of a honeybee colony. Finally, simulations predict that an infection may persist in a honeybee colony over several years, with effects that compound over time. Thus, the ultimate collapse of the colony may be the result of events several years past.

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Female Developmental Environment Delays Development of Male Honeybee (Apis Mellifera)

10.21203/rs.3.rs-41468/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yi Bo Liu ◽

Yao Yi ◽

Amal Abdelmawla ◽

Zhi Jiang Zeng ◽

Xu Jiang He

Keyword(s):

Apis Mellifera ◽

Cell Size ◽

Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin ◽

Reproductive Organs ◽

Caste Differentiation ◽

The Body ◽

Reproductive Tissues ◽

Body Sizes ◽

Honeybee Colony ◽

Sex Regulation

Abstract Background Nutrition and cell size play an important role in the determination of caste differentiation in queen-worker of honeybee (Apis mellifera), whereas the haploid genome dominates the differentiation of drones. However, the effects of female developmental environment on the development of males remain unclear. In this study, young drone larvae were transferred into worker cells (WCs) or remained in drone cells (DCs) to rear drones. The parts of drone larvae were also grafted into queen cells (QCs) for 48 h and then transplanted into drone cells until emerging. Morphological indexes and reproductive organs of these three types of newly emerged drones were measured. Newly emerged drones and 3 d drone larvae from WCs, DCs and QCs were sequenced by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). Results Morphological results showed that newly emerged DC drones had bigger body sizes and more well-developed reproductive tissues than WC and QC drones, whereas the reproductive tissues of QC drones were relatively better than those of WC drones. Gene expression results showed a more clear difference among three groups. At the larval stage, there were 889, 1761 and 1927 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in WC/DC, QC/DC and WC/QC comparisons, respectively. The number of DEGs decreased in adult drones of these three comparisons [678 (WC/DC), 338 (QC/DC) and 518 (WC/QC)]. A high number of DEGs were involved in sex regulation, growth, olfaction, vision, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), Wnt signaling pathways, etc. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WCGNA) showed that WC and DC larvae were closer than QC larvae, whereas QC and WC drones were closer than DC drones. These results revealed that DC drones had better development in the body and reproductive system than QC and WC drones. Conclusion This study demonstrated that the developmental environment of honeybee females including the larval diet and cell size delayed male development. Naturally, honeybee colony ovigerous workers in queen-less colonies or non-mated queens produce a large number of dysplasia drones which are not well-developed. Therefore, this study serves as a model for understanding the regulation of sexual differentiation in social insects by environmental factors.

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