Vitellogenin and honey bees
Honey bees deposit vitellogenin in fat bodies in their abdomen and 
heads. The fat bodies apparently acts as a food storage reservoir. The 
glycolipoprotein vitellogenin has additional functionality as it acts as 
an antioxidant to prolong Queen bee and forager lifespan as well as a 
hormone that affects future foraging behavior. [1] The health of a honey 
bee colony is dependent upon the vitellogenin reserves of the nurse bees 
- the foragers have low levels of vitellogenin. As expendable laborers 
the foragers are fed just enough protein to keep them working their 
risky task of collecting nectar and pollen. Vitellogenin is important 
during the nest stage and thus for worker division of labor. A nurse 
bees vitellogenin titer that developed in the first four days after 
emergence, affects its subsequent age to begin foraging and whether it 
preferentially forages for nectar or pollen. If young workers are short 
on food their first days of life, they tend to begin foraging early and 
preferentially for nectar. If they are moderately fed, they forage at 
normal age preferentially for nectar. If they are abundantly fed, 
immediately after emergence, their vitellogenin titer is high and they 
begin foraging later in life, preferentially collecting pollen, which is 
the only available protein source for honey bees.

The above is from

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Vitellogenin

Thanks, Randy. Never heard of it. Saw you as a reference.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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