>My understanding was that when they became foragers,  their diets were
changed. And that leads to a rapid decline in lifespan,  not wing wear?  Am
I mistaken??

Charlie, as Pete has explained, we are all learning that some previous
explanations were in error.

When bees shift to foraging, they do indeed change diet, but I'm not sure
that that alone causes a decline in lifespan.  Wing wear clearly would, as
it is simple mechanical wear.  And also perhaps lack of flight muscle
maintenance, but support for that explanation is more iffy.

There is a huge range in bee age.  Lloyd Harris just told me that he found
a marked 312-324 day old bee this July in one of his hives.  Some marked
bees live for many months, and some foragers live much longer than others.
We still have a lot to learn!


-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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