Long live the queen bee … but if she doesn’t, the colony will prevail
09/12/2013 15:13
By Marianne Peso
In a honey bee colony, the queen bee rules while her daughter workers do nothing but work. So what happens when the queen dies? Are there worker riots, with the colony dissolving into a chaotic mess? Surprisingly, no. In a study published in the journal Current Biology on Friday, my colleagues and I showed that while queenless bees do act a little more selfishly, they continue to work together to keep the colony going. [Read more] ...