Effects of queen honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.) ageing on her attractiveness to workers

Abstract

1. 1. The degree of attractiveness to worker bees of queens of the following ages was: 0–1 -day-old: none; 2–3- and 4-day-old: medium; 5- and 6-day-old, as well as 16- and 18-month-old: high. 2. 2. The observed attractiveness of queens' body parts to workers was: abdomen > head > thorax. However, heads of living queens were 4.5 and 8.4 times more attractive than abdomens and thoraxes, respectively, when calculated as the number of attending worker bees per surface of a body part. 3. 3. Queens with tergites and sting chambers covered with paraffin were less attractive (16 and 22%, respectively) to worker bees than the intact controls. 4. 4. The attractiveness of ethanolic extracts of mandibular glands, tergal glands and abdomen tips was as follows: MG > TG = AT. Of mandibular gland extracts prepared from 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-day and 16–18-month-old queens, the highest attraction was observed in 5-day-old MG extracts only. 5. 5. Of 24 chemical components bioassayed for attraction of workers both inside cages and in bee colonies, 9-oxo-trans-2-decenoic acid was the most attractive. 6. 6. The results of the study show that the exocrine secretions from both mandibular and tergal glands of the queen bee contribute to the attraction of worker bees and that its intensity is age-dependent.