Skip to main content

Queen retinue

Honey bee queen is usually attended by a group of workers - queen retinue. Older egg laying queens are more attractive to workers than newly mated queens and virgin queens are the least attractive The behaviour of queen honeybees and their attendants,
Physiological Entomology
, Volume 17, Number 1, p.43–55, (1992)
[1]. The workers groom the queen by touching it with their mouthparts, antennae and forelegs. This is sometimes called retinue behaviour. The head and abdomen of the queen are more often touched than the thorax The behaviour of queen honeybees and their attendants,
Physiological Entomology
, Volume 17, Number 1, p.43–55, (1992)
[1]. During winter the contact between the queen and the attending workers is reduced Observations on honeybees examining and licking their queen,
Brit. J. Anim. Behav.
, Volume 5, p.81-84, (1957)
[2].

The workers from the queen retinue feed the queen by trophallaxis. Frequency of feeding is positively correlated with intensity of queen egg laying The honeybee queen and her attendants,
Anim. Behav.
, Volume 8, p.201-208, (1960)
[3] see also Les facteurs qui gouverment la ponte chez la reine des abeilles,
Insectes Sociaux
, Volume 3, p.499-504, (1956)
[4]. Observed number of times the queen was fed during one hour was: 2-3 Nurse bees [in Russian],
Opytnaia Paseka
, Volume 12, p.551-557, (1928)
[5], 4.8 Observations on honeybees attending their queen,
Brit. J. Anim. Behav.
, Volume 3, p.66-69, (1955)
[6]. During single bout of feeding the queen is fed by one or two (rarely five) workers Observations on honeybees attending their queen,
Brit. J. Anim. Behav.
, Volume 3, p.66-69, (1955)
[6]Reciprocal feeding of bees [in Russian],
Pchelovodstvo
, Volume 30, p.25-29, (1953)
[7]. The single feeding lasts 47±2.6 seconds Observations on honeybees attending their queen,
Brit. J. Anim. Behav.
, Volume 3, p.66-69, (1955)
[6] 44 seconds The honeybee queen and her attendants,
Anim. Behav.
, Volume 8, p.201-208, (1960)
[3]. Workers feeding the queen are younger than other attendants The honeybee queen and her attendants,
Anim. Behav.
, Volume 8, p.201-208, (1960)
[3]. Feeding and licking of the queen is performed more often by workers which spend in the retinue longer time Individual involvement in queen-attending of worker honeybees,
Insectes Sociaux
, Volume 39, Number 3, p.237–249, (1992)
[8]. The retinue workers eat faeces released by the queen.

Number of workers in queen retinue ranges from six to ten Observations on honeybees examining and licking their queen,
Brit. J. Anim. Behav.
, Volume 5, p.81-84, (1957)
[2] and it is smaller in winter than in summer The behaviour of queen honeybees and their attendants,
Physiological Entomology
, Volume 17, Number 1, p.43–55, (1992)
[1]. This number does not differ between night and day The behaviour of queen honeybees and their attendants,
Physiological Entomology
, Volume 17, Number 1, p.43–55, (1992)
[1]Absence of consistent diel rhythmicity in mated honey bee queen behavior,
Journal of Insect Physiology
, Volume 56, Number 7, p.761–773, (2010)
[9]. There is continuous change of workers in the retinue. Most attendants spend in the retinue less than 30 seconds, but some of them can spend there 41 minutes The honeybee queen and her attendants,
Anim. Behav.
, Volume 8, p.201-208, (1960)
[3]. Some workers attend the queen on more than one occasion during their lifetime The honeybee queen and her attendants,
Anim. Behav.
, Volume 8, p.201-208, (1960)
[3]. Workers often stop attending the queen when it starts to move Perception of the queen by workers in the honeybee colony,
J. Apic. Res
, Volume 12, Number 3, p.159–166, (1973)
[10]Queen substance dispersal by messenger workers in honeybee colonies,
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
, Volume 5, p.391-415, (1979)
[11]. When the queen stays still a worker can attend it for relatively long time Individual involvement in queen-attending of worker honeybees,
Insectes Sociaux
, Volume 39, Number 3, p.237–249, (1992)
[8]. The workers in the retinue are relatively young The honeybee queen and her attendants,
Anim. Behav.
, Volume 8, p.201-208, (1960)
[3]Queen substance dispersal by messenger workers in honeybee colonies,
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
, Volume 5, p.391-415, (1979)
[11]Adaptive significance of the age polyethism schedule in honeybee colonies,
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
, Volume 11, p.287-293, (1982)
[12]Factors determining temporal division of labor in bees,
Can. J. Zool.
, Volume 60, p.2947-52, (1982)
[13]Queen attendance behavior of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) that are high and low responding to queen mandibular pheromone,
Insectes Sociaux
, Volume 42, Number 4, p.371–378, (1995)
[14], at similar age they perform brood tending task.

Formation of the retinue can be elicited by queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) Perception of the queen by workers in the honeybee colony,
J. Apic. Res
, Volume 12, Number 3, p.159–166, (1973)
[10]. Mixture of five components of QMP is particularly important Semiochemical basis of the retinue response to queen honey bees,
Nature
, Volume 332, p.354-356, (1988)
[15]. Tergal glands secretion The releaser effects of the tergal gland secretion of queen honeybees (Apis mellifera),
Journal of Insect Behavior
, Volume 12, Number 3, p.343–351, (1999)
[16] and Dufour's gland secretion Dufour's gland secretion of the queen honeybee (Apis mellifera): an egg discriminator pheromone or a queen signal?,
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
, Volume 51, Number 1, p.76–86, (2001)
[17] also elicits retinue behaviour in workers. The retinue is formed even around queens with mandibular glands removed Queen substances from the abdomen of the honey bee queen,
Z. vergl. Physiol.
, Volume 70, p.210-222, (1970)
[18]Perception of the queen by workers in the honeybee colony,
J. Apic. Res
, Volume 12, Number 3, p.159–166, (1973)
[10]New insights into honey bee (Apis mellifera) pheromone communication. Is the queen mandibular pheromone alone in colony regulation?,
Frontiers in Zoology
, Volume 7, Number 1, p.18, (2010)
[19]. During grooming of the queen pheromones are transferred from the queen to the workers attending it and later to other workers in the colony Queen substance dispersal by messenger workers in honeybee colonies,
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
, Volume 5, p.391-415, (1979)
[11]. Workers which attended the queen for longer than 30 seconds move rapidly, often antennate nestmates and are often inspected by other workers Queen substance dispersal by messenger workers in honeybee colonies,
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
, Volume 5, p.391-415, (1979)
[11]. This behaviour can be important for transmission of the queen pheromones within the nest. The workers which licked the queen transfer particularly large amount of the QMP Production and transmission of honey bee queen (Apis mellifera L.) mandibular gland pheromone,
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
, Volume 29, Number 5, p.321–332, (1991)
[20] see also Activity of attendants after licking and palpating the queen in honeybee (Apis mellifera carnica),
Netherlands Journal of Zoology
, Volume 51, Number 4, p.415–419, (2001)
[21].

The contacts between the queen and the workers attending it can affect health of both the queen and the workers. The workers can infect the queen with Nosema ceranae Horizontal transmission of Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from worker honeybees to queens (Apis mellifera),
Environmental Microbiology Reports
, Volume 1, Number 6, p.495–498, (2009)
[22]. Workers infected with Nosema apis are less often observed in the retinue than their healthy nestmates at the same age The division of labor and queen attendance behavior of Nosema-infected worker honey bees,
Journal of Economic Entomology
, Volume 63, Number 5, p.1540–1541, (1970)
[23]. The queen can infect the attending workers with Bacillus larvae Passage of Bacillus larvae spores from adult queen honey bees to attendant workers (Apis mellifera),
Annals of the Entomological Society of America
, Volume 65, Number 4, p.899–901, (1972)
[24] and Nosema apis The influence of Nosema apis on young honeybee queens and transmission of the disease from queens to workers,
Apidologie
, Volume 31, Number 6, p.701–706, (2000)
[25].

Retinue behaviour is not affected by octopamine treatment Selective modulation of task performance by octopamine in honey bee (Apis mellifera) division of labour,
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
, Volume 191, Number 7, p.659–668, (2005)
[26], acaricides treatment Chemical acaricides in Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies; do they cause nonlethal effects?,
Canadian Entomologist
, Volume 131, Number 3, p.363–371, (1999)
[27] or selection for QMP response Queen attendance behavior of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) that are high and low responding to queen mandibular pheromone,
Insectes Sociaux
, Volume 42, Number 4, p.371–378, (1995)
[14].