"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."

As mentioned by others, and also evident at times in my colonies, brood rearing declines even in the presence of abundant incoming pollen. Is it possible that declining brood and abundant incoming pollen doesn't produce the same kind of winter bee or a winter bee at all?  Who checks? I think we assume that bees we see late winter and early spring were classic winter bees. But maybe a pollen rich colony going into winter sustains or renews fat bodies by simply eating more stored pollen over winter. As opposed to colonies that develop vitellogenin-rich bees in areas where pollen declines in fall.  

Is it also possible that there are a few mechanisms that can simulate long-lived bees that are not mutually exclusive including environmental cues like photoperiod and dropping temperatures, or declining available pollen or even the type of pollen being collected? 



 

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