Comb wax effects on the ontogeny of honey bee nestmate recognition

We addressed the general question of how kin recognition cues develop by investigating cue differentiation between colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. In honey bee colonies, exposure to the wax comb is a critical component of the development of kin recognition cues. In this study, we determined how the cues develop under natural conditions (in swarms), whether the genetic source and age of the wax affect cue ontogeny, and whether exposure to wax, as in normal development, affects preferential feeding among bees within social groups. Cue development in swarms coincided with wax production, rather than with the presence of brood or the emergence of new workers; this finding supported previous observations concerning the importance of wax in cue ontogeny. Effective cue development required a match between the genetic source of the workers attempting to enter the hive, the wax to which they were exposed, and the guards at the hive entrance. The wax must also have been exposed to the hive environment for some time. Cues gained from wax did not mask or override cues used in preferential feeding interactions; this finding supports the contention that two recognition systems, one for nestmate recognition and the other for intra-colonial recognition, are present. The results fit a general model for cue development in nestmate recognition that relies on the use of nesting materials as an intermediary; the evolutionary significance of this model is discussed. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.