Collective decision making during reproduction in social insects: a conceptual model for queen supersedure in honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Abstract

Insect societies have served as excellent examples for coordinated decision making. The production of sexuals is the most important group decision that social insects face since it affects both direct and indirect fitness. The behavioral processes by which queens are selected have been of particular interest, since they are the primary egg layers that enable colony function. As a model system, previous research on honey bee reproduction has focused on swarming behavior and nest site selection. One significant gap in our knowledge of the collective decision-making process over reproduction is how daughter queens simply replace old or failing queens (=supersedure) rather than being reared for the purposes of colony fission (=swarming) or queen loss (=emergency queen rearing). Here I present a conceptual model that provides a framework for understanding the collective decisions by colonies to supersede their mother queens, as well as provide some key recommendations on future empirical work.