« Previous AbstractEffects of Brood Pheromone Modulated Brood Rearing Behaviors on Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Colony Growth    Next AbstractEffects of brood pheromone (SuperBoost) on consumption of protein supplement and growth of honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies during fall in a northern temperate climate »

PLoS One

Title:		Division of labor associated with brood rearing in the honey bee: how does it translate to colony fitness?
Author(s):		Sagili RR; Pankiw T; Metz BN;
Address:		"Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America. sagilir@hort.oregonstate.edu"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2011
Volume:		20110208
Issue:		2
Page Number:		e16785 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0016785
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Division of labor is a striking feature observed in honey bees and many other social insects. Division of labor has been claimed to benefit fitness. In honey bees, the adult work force may be viewed as divided between non-foraging hive bees that rear brood and maintain the nest, and foragers that collect food outside the nest. Honey bee brood pheromone is a larval pheromone that serves as an excellent empirical tool to manipulate foraging behaviors and thus division of labor in the honey bee. Here we use two different doses of brood pheromone to alter the foraging stimulus environment, thus changing demographics of colony division of labor, to demonstrate how division of labor associated with brood rearing affects colony growth rate. We examine the effects of these different doses of brood pheromone on individual foraging ontogeny and specialization, colony level foraging behavior, and individual glandular protein synthesis. Low brood pheromone treatment colonies exhibited significantly higher foraging population, decreased age of first foraging and greater foraging effort, resulting in greater colony growth compared to other treatments. This study demonstrates how division of labor associated with brood rearing affects honey bee colony growth rate, a token of fitness"
Keywords:		"Animals *Bees/drug effects/metabolism/physiology *Behavior, Animal/drug effects Nesting Behavior/drug effects Pheromones/pharmacology Pollen/metabolism;"
Notes:		"MedlineSagili, Ramesh R Pankiw, Tanya Metz, Bradley N eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2011/02/25 PLoS One. 2011 Feb 8; 6(2):e16785. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016785"