> > >It appears that calorie restriction extends life expectancy. Research on > a number of species indicate that a 30% decrease in intake has an effect. I > don't know that honeybees have been included Hi Larry, A similar effect in principle appears to work at the colony level, similarly to the way that a starving mammal's fat cells act as a storehouse for any excess energy. The diutinus bees act as storehouses for protein for the colony (in addition to any beebread reserves). Scarcity of incoming pollen appears to initiate the effect. However, diutinus bees have well-developed fat bodies, which require a high intake of calories, lipids, and protein. So I'm not clear on the mechanism by which overall colony food restriction translates into individual bees become diutinus bees. It may be as simple a stimulus as when broodrearing is restricted by lack of pollen/nectar flow, that nurse bees that don't feed brood simply remain in the high VG, low JH, heavy fat body state as storage vessels and long-lived survivors until conditions improve. It may well have something to do with the ethyl oleate feedback loop from foragers. In any case, it is an effective survival mechanism for the colony! Randy Oliver *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html