REPRODUCTIVE CYCLING AND HIERARCHICAL COMPETITION IN CAPE HONEYBEES, APIS-MELLIFERA-CAPENSIS ESCH

On queen loss, Cape honeybees may requeen from the brood of a queen, a n egg-laying worker or it may remain as a laying worker colony. These 3 possibilities are reached through 8 different social developmental p athways. The fate of any individual queenless colony varies with brood status and the rates and kinds of worker differentiation that occur o n queen loss. Worker differentiation is widespread and includes ovaria l and pheromonal development; but only few individuals actually reach ''surrogate queen'' status. The complex pathways that occur in queenle ss Cape colonies seem to be determined both by social context and hier archical competition among workers.