Factors determining hypopharyngeal gland activity of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

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The effects of worker age, brood stage and time of brood introduction or brood withdrawal on the hypopharyngeal (HP) gland activity of worker bees were examined. Worker age exerted a marked influence on gland activity. Only larvae affected HP gland activity, while eggs and pupae did not. Bees had inactive glands until their third day of larval feeding and they maintained high gland activity for approximately three days after larval removal. The data are congruent with the hypothesis that feeding behaviour itself causes gland activation, although the possibility that larvae produce a primer pheromone cannot be excluded.