EFFECTS OF SWARM TYPE ON TEMPORAL CASTE POLYETHISM IN THE HONEY-BEE, APIS-MELLIFERA L (HYMENOPTERA, APIDAE)

The performance of two tasks, wax production and foraging, was compared between colonies founded by prime swarms and afterswarms of honey bees. Workers began foraging at older ages in afterswarms and this delay was generally coupled with a longer duration of wax production. Differences in task performance between swarm types demonstrate the integration of a flexible behavioral caste system into life history. No relationships were found between swarm population size and ages of task performance, suggesting that breaks in brood rearing and upward shifts in worker age distribution were responsible for delays in the ontogeny of temporal castes in afterswarm-founded colonies. © 1990 Masson.