Genetic variation in worker temporal polyethism and colony defensiveness in the honey bee, Apis mellifera

To test the hypothesis that colonies of honey bees composed of workers with faster rates of adult behavioral development are more defensive than colon ies composed of workers with slower behavioral development, we determined w hether there is a correlation between genetic variation in worker temporal polyethism and colony defensiveness. There was a positive correlation for t hese two traits, both for European and Africanized honey bees. The correlat ion was larger for Africanized bees, due to differences between Africanized and European bees, differences in experimental design, or both. Consistent with these results was the finding that colonies with a higher proportion of older bees were more defensive than colonies of the same size that had a lower proportion of older bees. There also was a positive correlation betw een rate of individual behavioral development and the intensity of colony f light activity, and a negative correlation between colony defensiveness and flight activity. This suggests that the relationship between temporal poly ethism and colony defensiveness may vary with the manner in which foraging and defense duties are allocated among a colony's older workers. These resu lts indicate that genotypic differences in rates of worker behavioral devel opment can influence the phenotype of a honey bee colony in a variety of wa ys.