Honey bees consider larval nutritional status rather than genetic relatedness when selecting larvae for emergency queen rearing.

ABSTRACT: In honey bees and many other social insects, production of queens is a vital task, as colony fitness is dependent on queens. The factors considered by honey bee workers in selecting larvae to rear new queens during emergency queen rearing are poorly understood. Identifying these parameters is critical, both in an evolutionary and apicultural context. As female caste development in honey bees is dependent on larval diet (i.e. nutrition), we hypothesized that larval nutritional state is meticulously assessed and used by workers in selection of larvae for queen rearing. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of experiments manipulating the nutritional status of one day old larvae by depriving them of brood food for a four-hour period, and then allowing workers to choose larvae for rea

SUBMITTER: Sagili RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5955998 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature