Honeybee colony drone production and maintenance in accordance with environmental factors: An interplay of queen and worker decisions

Insectes Sociaux

Volumn 57, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 1-9

  Boes, K E ^a  

^a MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Colony organization; Cooperation; Drones; Honeybees; Sex allocation

Indexed keywords

COLONIAL ORGANISM; COOPERATIVE BREEDING; DECISION MAKING; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR; FOOD AVAILABILITY; HONEYBEE; QUEEN; REPRODUCTIVE COST; SEX ALLOCATION; WORKER CASTE;

APIS MELLIFERA; HEXAPODA;

EID: 76149120399     PISSN: 00201812     EISSN: 14209098     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00040-009-0046-9     Document Type: Review

References (63)

1. Allen M.D. 1958. Drone brood in honeybee colonies. J. Econ. Entomol. 51: 46-48
2. Allen M.D. 1963. Drone production in honey-bee colonies (Apis mellifera L.). Nature 199: 4895-4896
3. Allen M.D. 1965a. The effect of a plentiful supply of drone comb on colonies of honeybees. J. Apic. Res. 4: 109-119
4. Allen M.D. 1965b. The production of queen cups and queen cells in relation to the general development of honeybee colonies and its connection with swarming and supersedure. J. Apic. Res. 4: 121-141
5. Beekman M., Komdeur J. and Ratnieks F.L.W. 2003. Reproductive conflicts in social animals: who has power? Trends Ecol. Evol. 18: 277-282
6. Beekman M. and Ratnieks F.L.W. 2003. Power over reproduction in social Hymenoptera. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 358: 1741-1753
7. Berg S., Koeniger N., Koeniger G. and Fuchs S. 1997. Body size and reproductive success of drones (Apis mellifera L). Apidologie 28: 449-460
8. Bourke A.F.G. and Franks N.R. 1995. Social Evolution in Ants. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 529 pp.
9. Buhler A., Lanzrein B. and Wille H. 1983. Influence of temperature and carbon dioxide concentration on juvenile hormone titer and dependent parameters of adult worker honeybees (Apis mellifera L). J. Insect Physiol. 29: 885-893
10. Camazine S. 1991. Self-organizing pattern formation on the combs of honeybee colonies. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 28: 61-76
11. Camazine S., Deneubourg J.-L., Franks N.R., Sneyd J., Theraulaz G. and Bonabeau E. 2001. Self-organization in Biological Systems. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 538 pp
12. Charnov E.L. 1982. The Theory of Sex Allocation. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 355 pp
13. Crozier R.H. and Pamilo P. 1996. Evolution of Social Insect Colonies. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 306 pp
14. Darwin C. 1874. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (2nd edition). John Murray, London.
15. Delaplane K.S. and Harbo J.R. 1987. Drone production by young versus old worker honeybees in queenless colonies. Apidologie 18: 115-119
16. Free J.B. 1957. The food of adult drone honeybees (Apis mellifera). Brit. J. Anim. Behav. 5: 7-11
17. Free J.B. 1967. The production of drone comb by honeybee colonies. J. Apic. Res. 6: 29-36
18. Free J.B. and Williams I.H. 1975. Factors determining the rearing and rejection of drones by the honeybee colony. Anim. Behav. 23: 650-675
19. Fukuda H. and Ohtani T. 1977. Survival and life span of drone honeybees. Res. Popul. Ecol. 19: 51-68
20. Hamilton W.D. 1964. The genetical evolution of social behavior. J. Theor. Biol. 7: 1-16
21. Haydak M.H. 1958. Do the nurse honeybees recognize the sex of the larvae? Science 127: 1113
22. Henderson C.E. 1991. Reproductive Investment in Drones in Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colonies. Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 92 pp
23. Henderson C.E. 1994. Influence of the presence of adult drones on the further production of drones in honeybee (Apis mellifera L) colonies. Apidologie 25: 31-37
24. Hrassnigg N. and Crailsheim K. 2005. Differences in drone and worker physiology in honeybees (Apis mellifera). Apidologie 36: 255-277
25. Johansson T.S.K. and Johansson M.P. 1971. Effects of drone comb on brood and honey production in honeybee Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera-Apidae) colonies. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 64: 954-956
26. Koeniger N. 1970. Factors determining the laying of drone and worker eggs by the queen honeybee. Bee World 51: 166-169
27. Kronauer D.J.C., Schoning C., Pedersen J.S., Boomsma J.J. and Gadau J. 2004. Extreme queen-mating frequency and colony fission in African army ants. Mol. Ecol. 13: 2381-2388
28. Lee P.C. and Winston M.L. 1985. The effects of swarm size and date of issue on comb construction in newly founded colonies of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Can. J. Zool. 63: 524-527
29. Lee P.C and Winston M.L. 1987. Effects of reproductive timing and colony size on the survival, offspring colony size and drone production in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). Ecol. Entomol. 12: 187-195
30. Martin C.G., Oldroyd B.P. and Beekman M. 2004. Differential reproductive success among subfamilies in queenless honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 56: 42-49
31. Martin S.J., Beekman M., Wossler T.C. and Ratnieks F.L.W. 2002. Parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, evade policing. Nature 415: 163-165
32. Miller D.G. and Ratnieks F.L.W. 2001. The timing of worker reproduction and breakdown of policing behaviour in queenless honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) societies. Insect. Soc. 48: 178-184
33. Moritz R.F.A. 1985. The effects of multiple mating on the worker-queen conflict in Apis mellifera L. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 16: 375-377
34. Morse R.A., Strang G.E. and Nowakowski J. 1967. Fall death rates of drone honeybees. J. Econ. Entomol. 60: 1198-1202
35. Newton D.C. and Michl D.J. 1974. Cannibalism as an indication of pollen insufficiency in honeybees: ingestion or recapping of manually exposed pupae. J. Apic. Res. 13: 235-241
36. Page R.E. 1981. Protandrous reproduction in honeybees. Environ. Entomol. 10: 359-362
37. Page R.E. and Erickson E.H. 1988. Reproduction by worker honey-bees (Apis mellifera L). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 23: 117-126
38. Page R.E. and Metcalf R.A. 1984. A population investment sex ratio for the honeybee (Apis mellifera L). Am. Nat. 124: 680-702
39. Palmer K.A. and Oldroyd B.P. 2000. Evolution of multiple mating in the genus Apis. Apidologie 31: 235-248
40. Pratt S.C. 1998. Decentralized control of drone comb construction in honey bee colonies. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 42: 193-205
41. Pratt S.C. 2004. Collective control of the timing and type of comb construction by honeybees (Apis mellifera). Apidologie 35: 193-205
42. Ratnieks F.L.W., Foster K.R. and Wenseleers T. 2006. Conflictresolution in insect societies. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 51: 581-608
43. Ratnieks F.L.W. and Keller L. 1998. Queen control of egg fertilization in the honeybee. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 44: 57-61
44. Rheindt F.E., Gadau J., Strehl C.P. and Holldobler B. 2004. Extremely high mating frequency in the Florida harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex badius). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 56: 472-481
45. Rinderer T.E., Hellmich II R.L, Danka R.G. and Collins A.M. 1985. Male reproductive parasitism: a factor in the africanization of European honey-bee populations. Science 228: 1119-1121
46. Robinson G.E., Page R.E. and Fondrk M.K. 1990. Intracolonial behavioral variation in worker oviposition, oophagy, and larval care in queenless honeybee colonies. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 26: 315-323
47. Sasaki K., Kitamura H. and Obara Y. 2004. Discrimination of larval sex and timing of male brood elimination by workers in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.). Appl. Entomol. Zool. 39: 393-399
48. Sasaki K. and Obara Y. 2001. Nutritional factors affecting the egg sex ratio adjustment by a honeybee queen. Insect. Soc. 48: 355-359
49. Sasaki K., Satoh T. and Obara Y. 1996. The honeybee queen has the potential ability to regulate the primary sex ratio. Appl. Entomol. Zool. 31: 247-254
50. Schmickl T., Blaschon B., Gurmann B. and Crailsheim K. 2003. Collective and individual nursing investment in the queen and in young and old honeybee larvae during foraging and non-foraging periods. Insect. Soc. 50: 174-184
51. Schmickl T. and Crailsheim K. 2001. Cannibalism and early capping: strategy of honeybee colonies in times of experimental pollen shortages. J. Comp. Physiol. A 187: 541-547
52. Schmickl T. and Crailsheim K. 2002. How honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) change their brood care behaviour in response to non-foraging conditions and poor pollen conditions. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 51: 415-425
53. Seeley T.D. 2002. The effect of drone comb on a honeybee colony's production of honey. Apidologie 33: 75-86
54. Seeley T.D. and Mikheyev A.S. 2003. Reproductive decisions by honeybee colonies: tuning investment in male production in relation to success in energy acquisition. Insect. Soc. 50: 134-138
55. Seeley T.D. and Morse R.A. 1976. The nest of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L). Insect. Soc. 23: 495-512
56. Strassmann J. 2001. The rarity of multiple mating by females in the social Hymenoptera. Insect. Soc. 48: 1-13
57. Trivers R.L. and Hare H. 1976. Haplodiploidy and the evolution of the social insects. Science 191: 249-263
58. Visscher P.K. 1989. A quantitative study of worker reproduction in honeybee colonies. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 25: 247-254
59. Webster T.C., Peng Y.S. and Duffey S.S. 1987. Conservation of nutrients in larval tissue by cannibalizing honeybees. Physiol. Entomol. 12: 225-231
60. Wharton K.E., Dyer F.C. and Getty T. 2008. Male elimination in the honeybee. Behav. Ecol. 19: 1075-1079
61. Wharton K. E., Dyer F.C., Huang Z.Y. and Getty T. 2007. The honeybee queen influences the regulation of colony drone production. Behav. Ecol. 18: 1092-1099
62. Winston M.L. 1987. The Biology of the Honey Bee. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 281 pp
63. Woyke J. 1977. Cannibalism and brood-rearing efficiency in the honeybee. J. Apic. Res. 16: 84-94