> of a queen for some time.  I suppose it's possible that some workers
> lay eggs in most colonies but we just don't notice it because the queen
> is much more prolific.  I'd be interested to hear other people's
> comments or experience.
 
Although a very low percentage of eggs in a colony are laid by workers,
I think that this event is actually quite common.  Francis Rateniks of
UC Berkeley and Meredith Humphreys (grad. student) here at Davis are
studying the "hive policing" aspects of this event.  Do workers
preferentially remove worker-laid eggs than queen-laid eggs?  Do workers
in a hive subfamily preferentially remove worker-laid eggs from another
subfamily?  Is this done by scent?
 
Paul
 
--
Paul C. Cheng ([log in to unmask])     (no e-mail address as of yet)
Bee Biology, U.C. Davis                 Northwestern University Medical School
Lab phone no.: (916) 752-0333           Class of 2000