Effect of Queenlessness on Worker Survival, Honey Gain and Defence Behaviour in Honeybees
SummaryThe effects of queenlessness on worker honeybees (Apis mellifera?) were tested with 50 colonies in groups of 10 (five treatments and two replicates) in August, October and December, 1984 and February and April, 1985 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 10 colonies in each group were all from a single heterogeneous mixture of bees, and each colony began with about 6000 workers and no brood. The five treatments each lasted for 28 days and consisted of (1) caged queen for 28 days, queenless for 0 days; (2) caged queen for 21 days, queenless for 7 days; (3) caged queen for 14 days, queenless for 14 days; (4) caged queen for 7 days, queenless for 21 days and (5) caged queen for 9 days, laying queen for 19 days (control). With prolonged queenlessness worker survival, colony weight gain and defence behaviour (number of stings) decreased. Queenlessness did not induce drifting.
Effect of Population Size on Worker Survival and Honey Loss in Broodless Colonies of Honey Bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
About 7 kg of honey bees were caged, stored for 2 days, and subdivided into 3 populations: ca. 4,400, 8,900, and 34,000 bees. The bees then were placed in hives that had no brood and a known quantity of honey. The resulting colonies had ca. 2 liters of space and one caged queen per 1,000 bees. Worker survival, honey loss per bee, colony temperature, and survival of caged queens were compared in six replicates. Each replicate covered 20 to 27 days during winter in Baton Rouge, La. Population size had no effect on survival of workers or caged queens. However, larger populations were significantly warmer than smaller populations when the ambient temperature was <13°C ( P < 0.05). Honey loss per bee per day was significantly greater for 4,400 bees (mean ± SD = 6.7 ± 1.5 mg) than for 8,900 (4.5 ± 1.7 mg) or 34,000 (4.2 ± 0.7 mg) bees ( P < 0.05).
Laboratory Measurement of Honey Production in the Honeybee I. A Model for Hoarding Behaviour by Caged Workers
SummaryThe relationship was examined between honey production by 14 colonies and hoarding behaviour by workers from these colonies in laboratory cages. Hoarding of sugar syrup in the test cages (wt/bee/day) on days 5–15 after emergence seemed to be correlated with honey production. Hoarding on days 7–9 was highly correlated with colony weight gain (r = +0·684, P < 0·01), on days 5–6 and 10–15 less so, and on days 1–4 and 16–20 not at all. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences between source colonies for hoarding on days 7–9 (P < 0·001). These results provide the basis for a model of hoarding behaviour, in which hoarding in the cage on days 5–15, and particularly days 7–9, is related to honey production. Workers held for their first 7 days in a colony hoard syrup during the next 3 days similarly to newly emerged workers, not like workers 8–10 days old. The correlation for days 7–9 in the cages was apparently due to adjustment to life in a cage, after which amount of syrup they hoard ...