A genetic component to division of labour within honey bee colonies

Abstract

Division of labour among nestmate workers is central to the colonial organization and ecological success of the eusocial Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps)1. Workers characteristically divide labour through (1) ontogenetic changes in individual behaviour2,3 and (2) inter-individual variation in behavioural repertoire3,4. On the basis of current evidence, optimization models of colony demography3,5,6 assume that variation among nestmates in behavioural repertoire arises solely through variation in environmental conditions, such as larval nutrition (inducing size-mediated behavioural differences in many ants)3,4,7 and adult experience (effecting behavioural differences among morphologically similar nestmates)8. A possible genetic component to division of labour, however, has received little study9. Yet, the degree of genetic heterogeneity among workers within Hymenopteran colonies is often extremely high10, a consequence of multiple mating by the queen (polyandry11,12) and/or the presence of multiple laying t (J B ) queens (polygyny13). Here we report evidence of genetically based variation in task performance among nestmate workers in the polyandrous honey bee Apis mellifera L. Such variation may be an important component to division of labour within genetically heterogeneous colonies.