Behavior of Queen and Worker Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Response to Exogenous Queen Mandibular Gland Pheromone

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Abstract
When a honey bee colony loses its queen the primary queen signal, queen mandibular gland pheromone declines, which initiates immediate and well documented changes in worker behavior. However, little is known regarding behavioral changes that might occur if queen pheromone levels are increased. To investigate possible positive or negative, or both, feedback from exogenous queen mandibular gland pheromone, glass-walled honey bee colonies were treated with various doses of synthetic queen pheromone and worker and queen behaviors monitored over a 3-d period. There were no differences in queen behavior with the addition of queen pheromone. Worker behavior was altered slightly at higher doses, with colonies receiving the highest pheromone dose having significantly more nectar foragers and higher activity levels on day 3. Additionally, some workers that removed pheromone from the glass slides were attacked (balled) by other workers. Balling was positively correlated with increasing dose, and occurred seasonally in the spring and fall but not the summer. Although decreasing levels of queen pheromone cause rapid behavioral changes, surprisingly, we observed only slight changes in worker behavior and no changes in queen behavior with the addition of large doses of queen pheromone. Thus, we found no evidence of queen mandibular gland pheromone feedback to the queen.

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