So workers in the fall undergo some change that makes them survive months instead of a few weeks.  Or do they?

I have seen hives that went queenless survive for months just fine.  Yeah, early on they get a few laying workers and raise a bit of drone brood.  But, in my experience the laying worker stage does not last all that long.  Maybe a month.  Then no more drone brood quite often.  I have a nuc right now like that.  Queenless in July.  Did not manage to requeen with a queen cell about Aug 1.  Done raising queens for the  year so I just left them to guard ten frames of comb which they could also fill with honey I can put on some nuc that needs a bit of feed.  In August I saw some laying worker drone brood for a few weeks.  That hive is still alive Oct 4.  It is getting weak with only three frames of bees.  They have had all the pollen they could want.  I see nearly none bringing in pollen for the last two months unlike queen right colonies.  Every worker in there is way past normal life expectancy by now.  I have seen hives queenless even longer still going.  I inspected a newby hive a couple of years ago about early Oct that had been queenless since early June.  It still had ten frames of bees and no laying workers.

Is transition from long life to short life simply a matter of how much brood is reared?  Does brood rearing result in low protein stores in the fat bodies of the workers with the result of a short life?  I read that older workers are not very able to digest pollen and restore protein stores.  In the fall the queen stops laying, thus workers do not have brood to feed and keep the stored protein fat bodies until spring.  Then they raise brood and die fast.

If it is just a matter of stored protein in fat bodies feeding sub in Oct might hurt due too much protein and resulting toxicity.

Beats me if this is correct or not.  But it seems to fit observations.  Or perhaps queenless summer bees are entirely different from winter bees?

Dick

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