Alimentary behaviour of the queen honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) during night and day and all the year long
1996
Haddad, S. al | Delage-Darchen, B. (Paris VI Univ., Le Bugue (France). Ecole d'Apiculture Tropicale)
The alimentary behaviour of the queen honey bee has been a subject of study for several decades now, with plenty of known facts available - but many of them disparate if not contradictory. In the present study, the alimentary behaviour of the queen has been traced, night and day, all the year long. The age of the feeder bees has been noted, as has the physiological state of their feeder glands, so as to give an indication of the food supplied to the queen. The results obtained lead to believe that : - In the warmer seasons, the queen honeybee is the object of constant attention by workers, who surround her in a 'court' and supply regurgitated food. The food varies from summer to winter. In summer, the queen is fed solely on regurgitations by workers of different ages, although the 'feeder' category dominates. Dissection of workers likely to feed the queen shows that the youngest can provide only mandibular gland secretion. She then receives hypopharyngeal secretions from numbers of older workers (3 to 11 days old). Forager bees - who are also occasional feeders, though only ever at night - can at that age provide both labial secretions and crop content. During the non-laying winter period, the queen is far less dependent on the workers - a finding already documented but also contradicted. Our long term comparative study of a single hive clearly illustrates this seasonal development. In winter the queen feeds directly on the reserves of honey (never of pollen). Finally, our night-time observations show that the queen receives regurgitations from workers which during the day have the status of forager bees. The nutritional value provided by these individuals is noticeably different, and in that case the labial-gland production of workers of this age may be of interest for the queen.
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