Breakdown of division of labor in queenless honey bee colonies

One of the hallmarks of insect societies is the division of labor between individuals. In the honey bee, in addition to reproductive division of labor between the queen and workers, there is a division of labor among the workers for tasks related to colony growth and development. In the absence of a queen some workers develop their ovaries and begin to lay eggs; these workers are generally thought of as selfish individuals that forego other hive duties in favor of their own reproduction. Here, we report that not only do bees with developed ovaries continue to do normal worker tasks, but it appears that the typical division of labor breaks down. There are no differences in the likelihood of foraging or colony defense between queenless bees with or without developed ovaries. In addition, queenless bees that foraged were significantly more likely to have developed wax glands (for comb building), hypopharyngeal glands (for brood feeding), and ovaries compared to queenright foragers. Taken together, these results indicate that queenless workers are not selfish egg layers. Rather, they resemble an atavistic state where each individual is primed to perform all tasks, similar to that of a solitary bee, but in this case the tasks appear to benefit members of the colony.