Factors determining temporal division of labor in honeybees

Abstract

Honeybee workers perform tasks in an age-related sequence during their lifetimes, with young workers generally performing hive duties and older workers guarding the entrance. The relationship between the timing of brood care and foraging and the colony characteristics of worker population, age distribution, and brood care were examined in order to determine the influence of colony growth on the ontogeny of worker activities. Foraging age was strongly correlated with colony population but not with age distribution or brood area. The age when workers cared for brood was weakly correlated with colony population and not correlated with age distribution or brood area. The results suggest that the ages when tasks are performed depend in part on colony population and less on age distribution and brood area.