The effect of feeding honey or honey-pollen mixtures (using pollen from yellow flowered broom, male kiwifruit flowers, female kiwifruit flowers) on the ovary development of worker honey bees was assessed after the bees had been caged without a queen for 14 d. There was no significant difference in ovary development between bees fed honey and those fed pollen from female kiwifruit flowers mixed with honey, nor between bees fed broom pollen and pollen from male kiwifruit flowers when mixed with honey. Each of the latter 2 diets resulted in ovary development that was significantly greater than that of bees fed either honey only or pollen from female kiwifruit flowers mixed with honey. lt is suggested that the nutritional value of various pollens for worker honey bees may be determined by examining their ovary development after being fed selected pollen diets in cages without a queen for 14 d.
SummaryThe effects were assessed of the presence of a queen, and of beeswax foundation, and of feeding honey, sucrose solution, or a honey and pollen mixture, on the production of wax by worker honeybees of European and tropical African origin during a 7-day confinement in laboratory cages. The European bees produced significantly more wax than the African bees did, but the two kinds of bees could not be shown to differ in their responses to the various treatments, although experiments on a larger scale might do so. Queenless bees in cages produced significantly less wax than did those with queens; variation in wax production among the queenless treatments was not significant.
The effect of new comb, old brood comb, and no comb (when a queen and worker brood are present or absent) on the ovary development of worker bees in small colonies was examined. The presence of a queen and (or) mixed worker brood inhibited ovary development. No differences occurred in ovary development of workers in queenless, broodless hives when new comb, old brood comb, or no comb was present.
AbstractA worker-like gynandromorph and worker honey bee (control) were observed for similar periods each day from age 4 to 26 days. The gynandromorph behaved more like a worker than a drone bee.
