The Laying Worker in the Cape Honeybee,Apis Mellifera Capensis

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Abstract
The development of laying workers (secondary reproductives) was studied in five dequeened colonies of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis Esch. Anatomical laying workers were present before queen removal; afterwards their number increased rapidly for about 12 days and then declined. Physiological (ovipositing) laying workers were present within a few days after dequeening, much earlier than in A. m. mellifera. Internal fighting followed queen removal, the number of bees being rejected thereby reaching a peak after a few days and subsiding in the next few weeks. The colonies seemed to reject some of the laying workers as they would strange queens. Colonies with the most laying workers when queenright were less prone to develop laying workers after queen removal. An anatomical investigation of the workers revealed a large number of ovarioles per ovary (commonly asymmetrically distributed) and a large spermatheca. No sperm could be found in the spermatheca: the laying workers produce female eggs parthenogenetically.