So-called rebel honey bees have been known about for at least 20 years. I think it is a mistake to suppose that they serve any real function. Rather they are an anomaly, an example of how evolution is imperfect and contains many quirks and dead ends. Oldroyd compared worker reproduction to cancer in his "The Cape honeybee: an example of a social cancer." He says

For example, in vertebrates, systems
exist that prevent individual cells from
becoming cancerous [2]. Insect societies,
which show one of the highest levels of
complexity [1], are also vulnerable to
parasitic attack from individual workers.

New research by Martin et al. [3] now
provides a fascinating example of how
the advanced society of the honeybee is
vulnerable to parasitic behaviour by
workers, in what can be reasonably
regarded as an example of lethal and
highly contagious ‘social cancer’.

Benjamin P. Oldroyd. TRENDS in Ecology & Evolution Vol.17 No.6 June 2002

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