QUANTITATIVE STUDIES OF FOOD EXCHANGES IN RELATION TO AGE BETWEEN WORKERS OF THE HONEY BEE APIS-MELLIFICA-MELLIFICA L

Studies of food exchanges between workers whose both antennae were cut off at the 2 nd or 4 th distal level were carried out in summer 1976. This was done with workers of 12 to 24 hours, 10 or 25 days old. We used the following method: twenty 10 day old workers were introduced in the central part of a three compartment cage where they could feed on honey labelled with198Au. At the same time, 20 amputated workers were introduced in one of the lateral compartements, whereas in the other lateral compartment 20 intact workers of the same age were placed. One hour later the radioactive food and the lateral partitions of the cage were removed, so that both the amputated and the intact workers of the lateral compartments could beg for regurgitations of food from the radioactive workers of the central compartment. Cutting off both antennae at the 2 nd distal level does not cause any change in the amount of radioactive food which is fed to the amputated workers, whatever the age of these workers. However, when the four distal antennal segments are lacking the amputated workers receive less food than the intact ones of the same age from their radioactive sisters, whatever their ages. In this case, amputated workers only receive 20-25% of the total amount of food which is distributed by their, well-fed radioactive sisters. © 1979 Masson.