Hi Peter

> I still have difficulty believing that some workers lay in a tight 
> pattern like a queen. 

There is a difference between 'laying workers' and eggs laid by 
'anarchistic bees'. In the former case a lack of pheromone caused by a 
failing (or missing) queen allows ovaries in workers whose development 
was originally repressed to develop to the point of being capable to lay 
an egg.

I think the case of anarchistic behaviour is one whereby a certain 
amount of development of ovaries was present when the worker was raised 
(a sort of intercaste situation) I see no reason that such a semi 
fertile worker would not have the ability to lay in a similar fashion to 
a queen.


Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman or http://www.dave-cushman.net
Short FallBack M/c, Build 6.02/3.1 (stable)

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---