PLSC 311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Funeral Director, Yellow Jacket, Propolis
Intercastes:
- The first 3 days of the larval stage of the female larva shows bipotentcy
- But larva that are 3-4 days old at the base of worker cells, converted to queen cells, and
then fed royal jelly from that point onward, usually develop features intermediate
between queen and worker.
- For intermediate: Mostly queen like individuals, but with any or all of these characters:
oMore triangular head shape
oA longer tongue length
oMuch smaller toothed mandible
oOccurrence of corbicula (pollen basket) on the hind leg tibia
oPresence of pollen brushes or combs on the hind leg basitarsus
oMore heavily barbed sting
- These intermediates between queen and workers are known as “intercastes”
- They tend to be inferior as queens (inferior reproductively) so bees (adult worker bees)
usually recognize them and eliminates them
- If you start to feed royal jelly after day 4 as a female larva, only workers will develop,
even if nestled within a queen cell
Queen Quality:
- Best queens are those reared from eggs in queen cups (so right from the beginning was
suppose to be a queen)
- A queen cup is a small vertical structure newly formed by adult worker bees on the face
of the comb that awaits a egg to be oviposited by the queen
- Worker bees eventually will add wax to lengthen or draw down the walls of the queen
cup around the egg or larva inside it, to form a mature queen cell
- Results from getting a queen like this:
oIncreased weight at adult emergence from her queen cell
oIncreased number of egg tubules/ ovarioles
oIncreased size of the spermathecal
- The next best queens are the young larvae transferred (example: by grafting) from
worker cells to queen cups
Division of labor amoung adult female bees:
Queen:
- Longest lived caste
- Normal survives 1-3 years
- Known a few queens in managed colonies have survived for 8 years
- In wild (feral) colonies (example: in hollow tree) found 80% of queens lived for 1 year
but only 20% lived for 2 years and rarely did they live to 3 years
- Beekeepers often re-queen their colonies every 2 years or so
oBecause the queen starts to get old, may not be walking as well on the combs
and way start laying a poor brood pattern on the comb
- Queen contributes by mating, followed by her egg laying function
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- She does not forage, does not make beeswax, ect.
Worker
- Lifespan of adult worker varies from a few weeks to a few months
oFactors effecting this:
Time of year
Food availability
Colony management (how beekeeper is maintaining the hive)
Prior tasks performed by the adult worker
Which race or subspecies the bee is
- Shortest lifetime in summer (3-6 weeks)
oBecause she will work herself to death as a forager
- Intermediate lifetime in spring and fall (1-2 months)
- Longest lifetime is in winter because not foraging at all (4 ½-6 months)
oRecorded up to 10 ½ months
- Generally, from spring to early fall the worker bee spend first part inside the hive
preforming various “house duties” then for the second half of her life will be spent
outside (foraging)
- May lose her life by stinging a hive intruder if she if inside (otherwise the worker bee
remains protected in the hive and contributes to the hives well being)
- When she goes outside it is a risk to the individual because she may not return (many
risks that could kill her)
- Foraging continues until her wings become frayed but eventually will just walk from the
hive and die
- Several tasks in the worker bee’s division of labor:
oThere is variability of what gets performed on a single day
Example: day 8 as an adult single day:
1/3 was eating pollen, cleaning cells of the comb, capping cells
containing mature larvae, feeding of the larvae, building comb
2/3 was spent resting/ patrolling
oinside the hive bees often appear to be doing very little
patrolling/ resting is important because there are physiological changes/
internal changes in the adult worker bee that happen during this time
an apparent inactivity reflects significant internal changes taking place
inside that worker bee
oworker behavior is strongly linked to her physiological condition
example: 5-15 days old: during this time, her “brood food” and
mandibular, and wax glands reach maximum secretory production (at this
time her main activity’s tend to include brood rearing and comb building)
15-30 days, now moving to outside activities: glands that were previously
important, now decline or change what they are producing
example: mandibular glands: had formed significant part of brood
food, but now produce an alarm pheromone (2-heptanone),
released when biting a hive intruder
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The first 3 days of the larval stage of the female larva shows bipotentcy. But larva that are 3-4 days old at the base of worker cells, converted to queen cells, and then fed royal jelly from that point onward, usually develop features intermediate between queen and worker. These intermediates between queen and workers are known as intercastes . They tend to be inferior as queens (inferior reproductively) so bees (adult worker bees) usually recognize them and eliminates them. If you start to feed royal jelly after day 4 as a female larva, only workers will develop, even if nestled within a queen cell. Best queens are those reared from eggs in queen cups (so right from the beginning was suppose to be a queen) A queen cup is a small vertical structure newly formed by adult worker bees on the face of the comb that awaits a egg to be oviposited by the queen.
