Worker bees rebel when faced with the prospect of raising their nephews and nieces, research has found.
Scientists in Poland have studied post-swarm bee colonies to understand how workers react to a change in queen.
They discovered that when a daughter replaces her mother as head of the colony, some worker bees reproduce instead of caring for their monarch's offspring.
The findings are published in the journal Current Biology.
Prof Michal Woyciechowski from the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Jagiellonian University in Poland led the research.
In a honey bee colony there is a single fertile queen and thousands of fertile male drones, all supported by the queen's sterile daughters, which are known as workers.
Swarming is a natural occurrence in which the queen and part of her colony leave en masse to find a new nest site.
Before she leaves, the queen bee lays a number of eggs, one of which will develop into a new fertile queen supported by the remaining workers.
In this case, Prof Woyciechowski explained, rather than rearing their brothers and sisters, "workers are obligated to rear nieces and nephews".
"This drop in relatedness causes the old queen's workers to lay their own eggs."
The scientists say this is not simply a behavioural switch, but a fundamental change in the workers' biology.
To analyse changes in the bees, the team split a bee colony, causing the temporary lack of a queen that occurs naturally after a swarm. They also examined a natural swarm.
For both experiments the researchers found that, before a new queen developed, the worker larvae actually grew ovaries - forming egg-producing tubes in place of the food-producing glands they use to "nurse" the colonial brood.
"Most investigators of honey bees strongly believe that the number of [egg-producing tubes] in workers' ovaries is determined genetically," said Prof Woyciechowski.
"This is of course true, however, none of them expected that, during workers' development, larvae have a possibility to switch from nursing to rebel strategy."
But the observed rebellion was brief: once the new queen's own workers hatched they were able to suppress the reproducing rebels.
Prof Woyciechowski suggested that, among animals well-known for their altruism, the motivation for the workers development is surprisingly "selfish".
"Rebel strategy - direct reproduction and an increase in personal fitness - probably gives the workers a better chance to multiply their genes than indirect reproduction via [the] sister-queen," he said.
The Saskatchewan Beekeepers Association, Regina Bee Club and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture are pleased to offer a 2 day beginning beekeepers course.
Workshop lessons include beekeeping equipment, working in the bee colony, basic bee biology, and seasonal beekeeping, harvesting and extracting honey, preparing bees for winter and pest management practises. Every one of all experience levels are welcome. This workshop involves classroom sessions and hands-on lessions in the bee yard.
Lunch: Provided with registration fee. Time: Saturday June 2nd- 8:30am till 4:00pm, and Sunday June 3rd- 9:00am till 4:00pm Location: Regina Area Cost: $150.00 per person
Registration: Please complete and return your registration form as soon as possible. Download the registration form, print it and mail it into the address at the bottom of the page.Paypal payment available upon request (convenience fee applies).
Please note that this workshop is limited to a maximum of 24 participants. Please bring a bee hat and veil, a bee suit and proper footwear, there will be hands-on instruction in the bee yard.
Monsanto, the massive biotechnology company being blamed for contributing to the dwindling bee population, has bought up one of the leading bee collapse research organizations. Recently banned from Poland with one of the primary reasons being that the company’s genetically modified corn may be devastating the dying bee population, it is evident that Monsanto is under serious fire for their role in the downfall of the vital insects. It is therefore quite apparent why Monsanto bought one of the largest bee research firms on the planet.
It can be found in public company reports hosted on mainstream media that Monsanto scooped up the Beeologics firm back in September 2011. During this time the correlation between Monsanto’s GM crops and the bee decline was not explored in the mainstream, and in fact it was hardly touched upon until Polish officials addressed the serious concern amid the monumental ban. Owning a major organization that focuses heavily on the bee collapse and is recognized by the USDA for their mission statement of “restoring bee health and protecting the future of insect pollination” could be very advantageous for Monsanto.
In fact, Beelogics’ company information states that the primary goal of the firm is to study the very collapse disorder that is thought to be a result — at least in part — of Monsanto’s own creations. Their website states:
While its primary goal is to control the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) infection crises, Beeologics’ mission is to become the guardian of bee health worldwide.
What’s more, Beelogics is recognized by the USDA, the USDA-ARS, the media, and ‘leading entomologists’ worldwide. The USDA, of course, has a great relationship with Monsanto. The government agency has gone to great lengths to ensure that Monsanto’s financial gains continue to soar, going as far as to give the company special speed approval for their newest genetically engineered seed varieties. It turns out that Monsanto was not getting quick enough approval for their crops, which have been linked to severe organ damage and other significant health concerns.
Steve Censky, chief executive officer of the American Soybean Association, states it quite plainly. It was a move to help Monsanto and other biotechnology giants squash competition and make profits. After all, who cares about public health?
“It is a concern from a competition standpoint,” Censky said in a telephone interview.
It appears that when Monsanto cannot answer for their environmental devastation, they buy up a company that may potentially be their ‘experts’ in denying any such link between their crops and the bee decline.
WASHINGTON — A common class of pesticide is causing problems for honeybees and bumblebees, important species already in trouble, two studies suggest.
But the findings don't explain all the reasons behind a long-running bee decline, and other experts found one of the studies less than convincing.
The new research suggests the chemicals used in the pesticide -- designed to attack the central nervous system of insects -- reduces the weight and number of queens in bumblebee hives. These pesticides also cause honeybees to become disoriented and fail to return to their hives, the researchers concluded.
The two studies were published online Thursday in the journal Science.
Just last week activists filed a petition with more than a million signatures asking the government to ban the class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it is re-evaluating the chemicals and is seeking scientific help.
For more than a decade, pollinators of all types have been in decline, mostly because of habitat loss and perhaps some pesticide use. In the past five years, a new mysterious honeybee problem, colony collapse disorder, has further attacked hives. But over the last couple of years, that problem has been observed a bit less, said Jeff Pettis, lead bee researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's lab in Beltsville, Md.
Other studies have also found problems with the pesticide class singled out in the new research. These "strengthen the case for more thorough re-assessing," said University of Illinois entomology professor May Berenbaum, who wasn't involved in the new studies. "But this is not a slam-dunk indictment that could compel a ban. It's complicated."
In the honeybee study, French scientists glued tiny radio transmitters to the bees managed for orchard pollination. The bees were tracked when they came and left the hive. Those that were dosed with neonicotinoids were two to three times more likely not to return.
"Where'd they go? We have no clue about that actually," said study author Mickael Henry, a bee ecologist for the French national agriculture institute. His study said the pesticide likely contributes to colony collapse.
In the bumblebee study, British researchers dosed bees with the pesticide and moved their hives out into the field. After six weeks, they found the pesticide-treated hives were 10 per cent lighter than those that weren't treated. And more important, the hives that had pesticides lost about 85 per cent of their queens.
"Queen production is in some sense the be all and end all," study author David Goulson of the University of Stirling in Scotland said.
Bayer Crop Sciences, which is the leading producer of neonicotinoids, says it is used on 90 per cent of the corn grown in the U.S. and is safe. Bayer eco-toxicologist David Fischer said the honeybee study used unrealistically high doses of the chemicals, amounts that would not be used on crops bees normally pollinate.
Berenbaum, Pettis and a third outside scientist said the bumblebee study was more convincing than the honeybee research because it used lower doses and didn't make as many assumptions.
Bayer's Fischer said perhaps bumblebees are more sensitive to the pesticide and that issue is worthy of more study. But he said his company is one of the biggest canola growers in Canada and it uses the pesticide. The honeybees that pollinate Bayer's fields are "some of the healthiest bees in Canada," he said.
But environmental activists and some beekeepers are convinced the pesticide is a problem.
"The simple fact is, we know enough to take decisive action on this class of pesticides which covers well over 143 million acres of U.S. countryside," said Heather Pilatic, co-director of the Pesticide Action Network North America.
The EPA, in a prepared statement said the decline in bee health, is due to "complex interactions" that involve inadequate food sources, diseases caused by parasites and viruses, habitat loss and bee management practices, as well as pesticides.
Bees are needed to pollinate fruit, vegetables and nuts. Without them experts say our diets would be very bland. Honeybees, which aren't native to America, are managed by professional beekeepers, carted from farm to orchard and raised to produce honey. Bumblebees, native to this country, are wild pollinators.
Without bees, Berenbaum said, "we'd be a scurvy-ridden society."
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Workers can rebel against their queen
The Saskatchewan Beekeepers Association, Regina Bee Club and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture are pleased to offer a 2 day beginning beekeepers course.
Please note that this workshop is limited to a maximum of 24 participants. Please bring a bee hat and veil, a bee suit and proper footwear, there will be hands-on instruction in the bee yard. 
