Effects of resource availability on energy allocation patterns and fitness in bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies

Energy is important for all organisms, and its availability may have strong consequences on organisms’ life history traits. We investigated how resource availability affects energy allocation towards growth and reproduction, among other variables, in social insect colonies. By understanding how energy allocation is affected by resource availability in social insects, we gain insight into how energy allocation patterns may arise in complex systems. We manipulated resource availability in bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies for 100 days from the beginning of their life cycles. We discuss the effects of resource availability on population growth rate and the total biomass of workers (i.e. growth) and queens and males (i.e. reproduction). Furthermore, because worker size variation is associated with division of labor in bumble bees, we also discuss how resource availability affects worker size variation.