Ovarian Development of Worker Honey Bees1

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Abstract
Colonies of Apis mellifera were subjected to several treatments in an attempt to cause the nurse bees to alter the quality or quantity of the food given to the larvae, and the ovarian development of the adults reared during the treatments was studied. Most of the bees reared during the treatments were completely worker-like, and the only significant differences between colonies in the mean number of ovarioles per bee may have been caused by genetic rather than environmental factors. Only two worker bees reared during these treatments had an unusually large number of ovarioles; possible causes of the excessive ovarian development by these bees are discussed. Since colonies given a pollen cake containing 250 to 600 [mu]g/g Calcium pantothenate always started queen cells, it is proposed that pantothentic acid may be a limiting factor in the production of royal jelly by nurse bees.

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