Kin Recognition during Emergency Queen Rearing by Worker Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

Worker honey bees, Apis mellifera L., discriminate among larval phenotypes during emergency queen rearing. We present data from one experiment that suggest genotypic hierarchies of suitability for potential queen larvae. A second experiment demonstrated that frequencies of different worker patrilines within colonies containing twice-mated queens can fluctuate widely over time, resulting in differences between adult and brood subfamily frequencies. Queenless colonies derived from these colonies raised queens of different subfamilies at expected frequencies based on brood rather than adult ratios, suggesting that workers do not preferentially rear more highly related patrilineal-sister queens under conditions of queenlessness, or that if such a preference exists, it is of questionable biological significance.