While a few, mainly descriptive studies of honey bee longevity exist, the potential of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) as a model organism with pronounced intraspecific variability in life span and complex societies is currently under-appreciated in aging research and biodemography.
To assess the extrinsic mortality risk on foraging bees, we compared the longevity of cohorts of honey bee workers under free foraging conditions versus restricted foraging (2 hours per day to an artificial feeder in a flight cage). The lifespan of 4000 bees was measured in a split-hive experiment with resources and brood maintained constant between treatments (colony halves).
As expected, the bees in the cohorts that experienced free foraging conditions had a shorter average life expectancy in both replicates. This difference indicates the minimum longevity cost of foraging. The age-specific mortality patterns can be translated into age-specific longevity costs. Our results will be discussed with regard to possible mortality causes and in the light of Kirkwood's disposable soma theory as applicable to social insects.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Apidae Apis mellifera (honey bee)
Keywords: longevity, demography
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