Influence of colony size and season on the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) worker hypopharyngeal gland development and lifetime.

Abstract

The influence of season and type of colony on the development of the hypopharyngeal glands of Apis mellifera workers was investigated in the present study. Three types of colony were observed: strong (with a population of about 50.000 bees), median (about 20.000 bees) and weak (about 3.000 bees). The results showed that the average of worker lifetime is longer in the more populous colonies and in times of higher temperatures, nevertheless the weak colonies were more susceptible to the weather conditions than the strong ones. Although the colony size affects the worker lifetime and its glandular development, this not changes the pattern and sequence of tasks in the three types of colonies.