Randy quoted

 > 4.    Mean longevity of autumn-reared workers was inversely related to 
the
> amount of brood remaining to be reared in colonies when workers eclosed. 
> Consequently,
> long-lived workers did not appear in colonies until brood rearing 
> declined, which
> in turn was controlled by the availability of pollen.

Bob had talked about long lived winter bees before and I was wondering about 
them.

From what I see it is not a special bee that is bred for winter but a bee 
that is long lived because it has not participated in brood feeding.  Could 
it be related to the use of say the hypopharyngeal glands?  Maybe there is 
some other aging function of the bees body that declines when they 
participate in brood feeding.

The other point could be the lack of foraging caused by the decline in brood 
rearing thus diminishing the need for pollen in the hive.

Comments?

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA 

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