6.1 Function and behavior Of Workers

Question 1

What are the 4 temporal castes of workers

Answer 1

1. Cell cleaners - cell capping and cleaning
2. Nurse bees - Brood and Queen tending
3. Middle aged bees - Comb building, cleaning, food handling
4. Foragers - outside tasks

Question 2

Describe the process of worker otogeny

Answer 2

There is general progression but flexibility, variability and overlap in tasks

Question 3

Do all workers perform all tasks

Answer 3

No - the jobs they do depend on the state of the colony

Question 4

What is the difference between Division of Labour and Task Allocation

Answer 4

Division of Labour = the stable differences in worker task choice which depends on developmentally controlled physiological mechanisms

Task allocation - the problem of how a colony allocates its resources

Question 5

What age is the task of Cell preparation performed?

Answer 5

2 - 16 days

Question 6

What does a bee do during the cell preparation role?

Answer 6

She will polish cells from the back to the front. Remove cocoon remains and excretion. Cover cell walls in thin layer of wax

Question 7

What age do workers perform capping cells?

Answer 7

3 - 10 days

Question 8

What do bees do during the Capping cell phase?

Answer 8

Secrete small amounts of wax due to less developed wax glands. Cap larval cells or ripe honey

Question 9

What age do the workers feed larvae?

Answer 9

3 - 15 days

Question 10

What does a worker do during the Feeding larvae stage?

Answer 10

She visits larval cells and determines if they need food. A single bee rears 2-3 larvae during her life. She can change the concentration of secretions.

Question 11

What age do workers carry out the role of tending the queen?

Answer 11

3 - 14 days

Question 12

What do workers do during the tending the queen role?

Answer 12

They lick her and examine her with their antennae.

Groom and feed her. She is fed every 20-30 minutes for about 2 mins per feeding.

Spread pheromone as part of the retinue.

Question 13

What age do the workers perform the Food processing role?

Answer 13

10 - 20 days

Question 14

What do bees do during the food processing role?

Answer 14

They receive, ripen and deposit nectar in cells.

They wait near the entrance where foragers return.

Question 15

What age do workers take part in the Cleaning debris role?

Answer 15

11 - 15 days

Question 16

What do workers do during the cleaning debris role

Answer 16

They remove mouldy pollen, old cell cappings, dead brood. Detect diseased brood.

Question 17

What do workers do during the Handling pollen role?

Answer 17

They will pack the pollen into cells after it has been deposited

Question 18

What age do workers carry out the handling pollen role

Answer 18

10 - 19 days

Question 19

What age do workers carry out the comb building role

Answer 19

12 - 23 days

Question 20

What do workers do during the comb building role?

Answer 20

Secrete wax scales and consutrct comb

Question 21

What do workers do during the cell cleaning role?

Answer 21

Prepare cells for use

Question 22

What age do workers carry out cell cleaning?

Answer 22

11 - 25 days

Question 23

What age do workers carry out the role of ventilating the nest?

Answer 23

2 - 25 days

Question 24

What age do workers perfom guard duty

Answer 24

15 - 28 days

Question 25

What does a bee do during the guard duty role

Answer 25

Only guard a few hours at a time. Not everyone takes part as a guard

Question 26

What age do the bees take their first orientation flights as part of temporal polyethism

Answer 26

17 - 27

Question 27

What order do the jobs described by Jamie Ellis go in

Answer 27

Cell preperation > Capping brood > Feeding larvae > Tending the queen > Food procesors > Cleaning Debris > Handling pollen > Comb building > Cell Cleaning > Ventilating the nest > Guard Duty > Orientation flights > Foraging Flights

Question 28

What cannot recently emerged bees do?

Answer 28

Fly, sting or produce many glandualr secretions

Question 29

When do the bees wax and hypophangeal glands peak in secretions?

Answer 29

5 - 15 days

Question 30

When do saliva glands peak?

Answer 30

15 - 25 days

Question 31

What is the beneift of the Middle aged bees>

Answer 31

They are a pool of workers that can be called upon to do additional jobs.

Question 32

Where do bees aged 3 - 15 days old congregate

Answer 32

In the brood nest.

Question 33

Other than the main jobs, what else do workers do?

Answer 33

Resting is useful for metabolosing products and patrolling helps to sense the hive environment. They will also sleep but dpending on their age this occurs at different times.

Question 34

How does Ethyl oleate effect temoral polytheisim?

Answer 34

It is produced in the honey crop epithelium as nectar ferments. It is exuded to exoskeletong where it transmits to other bees. When there are lots of older workers present this secretion inhibits their development so that when there are fewer foragers, young bees develop into foragers quciker.

Question 35

What happens in the spring to the old worker bees?

Answer 35

They may have to perfom brood rearing tasks and that is why they require well developed hypophangeal glands.

Question 36

As the old winter bees die off, what may the young new bees have to perfom?

Answer 36

Precocious foraging as they are not yet developed to be fully formed foragers

Question 37

What does the hypophrangeal gland do as the worker ages

Answer 37

It decreases in size and switches from brood food production to producing sucrase and glucose oxidase to help with food processing

Question 38

How can pollen consumption effect temporal polyethisim?

Answer 38

Pollen consumption fuels the fat bodies t produce vitellogenin. High Vg inhibts JH production so as their pollen consumption lowers, the ageing process continues.