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First published online March 12, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 1032-1035 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.022582

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Mechanisms of food provisioning of honeybee larvae by worker bees

Christina Heimken, Pia Aumeier and Wolfgang H. Kirchner^*

Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Fakultät für Biologie und Biotechnologie, Bochum, Germany

^* Author for correspondence (wolfgang.h.kirchner{at}rub.de)

Accepted 14 January 2009

Although it has clearly been demonstrated in previous studies that honeybees inspect their worker brood in a non-random fashion, it is still unclear which signals and cues worker bees use to monitor the nutritional state of their brood. Here we show that worker bees can recognize and quantify the larval food present in a brood cell olfactorily and identify potential mechanical signals produced by the brood. There is no evidence for additional chemical hunger signals produced by the larvae. However, the pattern of movement of larvae within their cells changes with their nutritional state and might provide additional information to nurse bees.

Key words: Apis mellifera, behaviour, communication

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