Steve > I realised a long time ago that I am in a minority of one regarding 
castes but I think it might be argued that there really are 3 castes of 
honey bees: queens, summer workers and winter workers. 


With Hymenoptera, polyethism presents the possibility for a variety of specialized castes but they are accompanied by morphological differences. The thing with honey bees is we don't see different morphology between winter and summer bees so it would be difficult to say they are a different caste.  Whereas the queen and workers are clearly different.  


> Castes in Social Insects

> The caste system and polyethism determine the division of labor in insect societies. Castes divide colony members into distinct functional roles within the insect society. Specialized caste members conduct such tasks as defense, brood care, nest construction, thermoregulation, provisioning, and egg laying. Morphological specialization or caste polyethism is a key feature of caste structure. 

> https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/polyethism


Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT

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