Wiki site of the practical exercise of the IV Southern-Summer School on Mathematical Biology.

Here you will find the exercise assignment and the group's products.

If you are a group member login to edit this page, create new pages from it, and upload files.

1. Reproductive division of labour is a characterising feature of social insects.

2. Even though workers are physiologically capable of reproducing, worker derived drones are extremely rare in queenright Apis mellifera colonies.

3. Most worker-laid drone eggs are eaten by other workers (a phenomenon known as worker policing).

4. There is some evidence for reduction of working behavior in reproductive workers, thus there may be a reduction in colony fitness if there is too many anarchist bees.

Investigate the dynamics of worker reproduction in Apis mellifera colonies.

Barron, A. B., Oldroyd, B. P. & Ratnieks, F. L. Worker reproduction in honey-bees (Apis) and the anarchic syndrome: a review. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 50, 199–208 (2001). pdf

Barron, A. B. & Oldroyd, B. P. Social regulation of ovary activation in ’anarchistic’ honey-bees (Apis mellifera). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 49, 214–219 (2001). pdf

Dampney, J. R., Barron, A. B. & Oldroyd, B. P. Measuring the cost of worker reproduction in honeybees: work tempo in an ‘anarchic’line. Apidologie 35, 83–88 (2004). pdf

Ronai, I. et al. Anarchy Is a Molecular Signature of Worker Sterility in the Honey Bee. Mol Biol Evol msv202 (2015). doi:10.1093/molbev/msv202 pdf