A genetic component to division of labour within honey bee colonies

ABSTRACT Division of labour among nestmate workers is central to the colonial organization and ecological success of the eusocial Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps)1. Workers

characteristically divide labour through (1) ontogenetic changes in individual behaviour2,3 and (2) inter-individual variation in behavioural repertoire3,4. On the basis of current evidence,

optimization models of colony demography3,5,6 assume that variation among nestmates in behavioural repertoire arises solely through variation in environmental conditions, such as larval

nutrition (inducing size-mediated behavioural differences in many ants)3,4,7 and adult experience (effecting behavioural differences among morphologically similar nestmates)8. A possible

genetic component to division of labour, however, has received little study9. Yet, the degree of genetic heterogeneity among workers within Hymenopteran colonies is often extremely high10, a

consequence of multiple mating by the queen (polyandry11,12) and/or the presence of multiple laying t (J B ) queens (polygyny13). Here we report evidence of genetically based variation in

task performance among nestmate workers in the polyandrous honey bee _Apis mellifera_ L. Such variation may be an important component to division of labour within genetically heterogeneous

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support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS COOPERATION AMONG UNRELATED ANT QUEENS PROVIDES PERSISTENT GROWTH AND SURVIVAL BENEFITS DURING COLONY ONTOGENY Article Open access 15 April

2021 SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF CONTROLLED MATING AND SELECTION ON THE GENETIC VARIANCE OF HONEYBEE POPULATIONS Article Open access 30 March 2021 LARGER COLONY SIZES FAVOURED THE EVOLUTION OF

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(Academic, Orlando, 1986). Book  Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * Peter C. Frumhoff Present address: Departments of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

and Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA * Jayne Baker Present address: Department of Zoology NJ15, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195,

USA AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Ecology Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA Peter C. Frumhoff * Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis,

California, 95616, USA Jayne Baker Authors * Peter C. Frumhoff View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jayne Baker View author publications You

can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Frumhoff, P., Baker, J. A genetic component to

division of labour within honey bee colonies. _Nature_ 333, 358–361 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333358a0 Download citation * Received: 01 February 1988 * Accepted: 17 April 1988 * Issue

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