Abstract.
Workers of the Asian hive bee, Apis cerana, are shown to have relatively high rates of worker ovary activation. In colonies with an active queen and brood nest, 1–5% of workers have eggs in their ovarioles. When A. cerana colonies are dequeened, workers rapidly activate their ovaries. After 4 days 15% have activated ovaries and after 6 days, 40%. A cerana police worker-laid eggs in the same way that A. florea and A. mellifera do, but are perhaps slightly more tolerant of worker-laid eggs than the other species. Nevertheless, no worker's sons were detected in a sample of 652 pupal males sampled from 4 queenright colonies. A cerana continue to police worker-laid eggs, even after worker oviposition has commenced in a queenless colony.
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Oldroyd, B.P., Halling, L.A., Good, G. et al. Worker policing and worker reproduction in Apis cerana . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 50, 371–377 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650100376
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650100376