Summary
An equilibrium model is developed which seeks to explain the regulation of queen rearing in honeybee colonies preparing to swarm. The model postulates that there is a balance between nurse bees becoming inhibited from queen rearing and nurses losing their inhibition, and that whether a colony does or does not rear queens reflects the equilibrium percentage of inhibited nurses. This model leads to a quantitative prediction about the size of a conoly's nurse population at which queen rearing should start. Comparing the model's predictions with empirical observations pinpoints data needed for a more complete explanation of control of queen rearing. In particular, the model suggests a central regulatory role for density-dependent changes in the behaviors involved in queen substance dispersal.
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Baird, D.H., Seeley, T.D. An equilibrium theory of queen production in honeybee colonies preparing to swarm. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 13, 221–228 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00299926
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00299926