Queen confinement
Workers can prevent the emergence of a queen by sealing with wax the cuts made by her in the queen cell wall [1][2][3] or by pressing their head against cap of the cell [4]. This behaviour is called queen confinement or queen imprisonment. The confinement occurs during swarming when there is congestion in the nest [5]. It prevents queen fighting and allows afterswarms to be produced. During confinement the queen is fed by workers through slits in the tip of the cell [5]. There is no nepotism during feeding of the confined queens [6].
When queen cells are attended by workers emergence of queens can be delayed for more than two days by tooting sound [2][3] but see [7][8]. Duration of queen confinement is not affected by vibration signal [3].
References
- Nouvelles observations sur les abeilles. Barde, Manget et Compagnie, Genève, pp. 368. (1792)
- Delay of emergence of honey bee queens in response to tooting sounds. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen. Series C: Biological and Medical Sciences 84:381-387. (1981)
- Influences of queen piping and worker behaviour on the timing of emergence of honey bee queens. Insectes Sociaux 34:181–193. (1987)
- Vibration of queen cells by worker honeybees and its relation to the issue of swarms with virgin queens. J. Apic. Res. 17:14-26. (1978)
- Queen confinement, queen piping and swarming in Apis mellifera colonies. Anim. Behav. 17:271-278. (1969)
- Absence of nepotism toward imprisoned young queens during swarming in the honey bee. Behavioral Ecology 16:403-409. (2005)
- Lauterzeugung und Lautauffassungsvermögen der Bienen. Opuscula Entomologica 6:1-124. (1945)
- Effects of recorded queen pipings and of continuous vibration on the emergence of queen honey bees. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 64:50–51. (1971)
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