Worker Bees Only Work When Colony is Popular

Workers bees only build nest cells for male honeybees until their colony becomes popular - about 4,000 workers in all, according to a recent study.

Biologists at Cornell University have realized that colony size plays a role in triggering a hive's reproductive cycle, the scientists reported in the journal Naturwissenschaften.

While 4,000 bees is relatively small for a colony (full-fledged hives are about 20,000-40,000 strong), according to Michael L. Smith, a biology graduate student and lead author of the study, it appears to be the magic number.

"It's as if the colony had entered puberty," Smith told The Dodo.

Once the colony reaches this number, worker bees - the non-reproducing females in a colony - start to construct what Smith and his colleagues call the "drone comb." These are the cells of the hive where the male honeybees will hatch. Once they hatch, these full-grown drones will leave the nest to seek out virgin queens and distribute their hive's genes.

However, it's still a mystery to scientists as to how these bees can understand the size of their colony.

The researchers have several theories. Bee colonies might 'hit puberty' thanks to warmer temperatures from the body heat of 4,000 bees, a change in carbon dioxide or pheromones concentrations might be the trigger, or the increased density of bees in a hive could explain this phenomenon.

"It's really an open-ended question," Smith told The Dodo.

Bees play a critical part in agriculture, and considering the fact that bee populations across the globe have been shrinking due to colony collapse disorder, this discovery about how hives operate could possibly provide valuable information on how to save this species.

"Anyone who's doing work that involves the health or condition of honeybees," Smith says, "will help bees and the beekeeping industry."

President Barack Obama created a Pollinator Health Task Force, Nature World News reported, as part of a plan to help determine the reason behind the mysterious decline of honeybee populations.