Chemical recognition of queen cells by honey bee workersApis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

Summary. Honey bee workers are able to nurse or to destroy and thus to recognize the capped queen cells containing a pupa. Fatty acid esters, especially methyl oleate, methyl palmitate and ethyl oleate were found in significant amounts on the queen pupal cuticle. Methyl oleate, the major component, along with smaller amounts of methyl linoleate and methyl linolenate, were involved in the recognition of queen cells by workers. In natural conditions of the colony, queen cells containing a paraffin pupal lure with methyl oleate were accepted 5.9 days by workers, releasing about 1.8 queen pupa equivalents during that period, when control cells (without ester) were kept only 2.1 days. Although these esters are non specific to honey bees, they are of great importance in social regulation of the honey bee colony.

Do environmental conditions exert an effect on nest-mate recognition in queen rearing honey bees?

“…Several works on honeybee workers implicate the role of cuticular hydrocarbons in nestmate recognition (reviewed by Breed and Bennett, 1987), and floral oils may play a supplementary role in this mechanism (Bowden et al, 1998). More recently, Le Conte et al (1995) showed that a blend of ten fatty acid esters (brood pheromone) constitutes a chemical signature that enables nurses to recognize the age of larvae. Based on this finding, we reasoned that the modulation of the proportion and quantities of these esters could form a "racial signature".…”

Starving honey bee (Apis mellifera) larvae signal pheromonally to worker bees

“…Pervious studies showed that some insect larvae such as wasp larvae ( Vespa orientalis F) and beetle larvae ( Nicrophorus vesoilloides ) produce acoustic or tactile signals to beg for food 16 17 . It is well documented that larval honey bees produce pheromones capable of altering adult worker behaviour 18 19 20 . Therefore, it is possible that honey bees could use volatile pheromones as their begging signal to attract workers to them when hungry.…”

Reciprocal interactions between honeybees and combs in the integration of some colony functions in Apis mellifera L.

“…In the case of queen cells, the developmental progress of the larvae is constantly signaled by the ester ratios. This was confirmed by using substitutes doped with the pheromones (Le Conte et al, 1995b (Goetz and Koeniger, 1992).…”