SELECTABLE COMPONENTS OF SEX ALLOCATION IN COLONIES OF THE HONEYBEE (APIS-MELLIFERA L)

Colonies of social insects that undergo fission as a component of repr oduction produce large excesses of males. Hypotheses to explain this p henomenon have assumed that the workers that constitute the entourage for the new queen (or queens) represent investment in female reproduct ives. Selection for optimal colony sex allocation then leads to an inc rease in production of males that balances the investment in females b ased on their relative reproductive values. We show that the construct ion of comb dedicated to the production of males (drone comb) versus w orkers (worker comb) is a component of sex investment under the contro l of colony workers. Relative comb construction was highly correlated with the relative investment in male and worker brood. Colonies that i nvested relatively more in their total numbers of males invested less in the dry weight of individual workers. Colonies that had more adult workers produced a greater number of males and workers, but colony siz e did not affect the proportional investment in drone comb or brood. G enetic variability was found for the number of adult workers in coloni cs, the amount of drone comb produced, the amount of worker comb produ ced, and the dry weight of adult workers, suggesting that sex allocati on is a selectable trait in honeybees.