Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies

Abstract Honeybees are an excellent model system for examining how trade-offs shape reproductive timing in organisms with seasonal environments. Honeybee colonies reproduce two ways: producing swarms comprising a queen and thousands of workers or producing males (drones). There is an energetic trade...

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Autores principales:	Natalie J. Lemanski, Nina H. Fefferman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7267d97756bc403e832fc3c10a7e3f89
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7267d97756bc403e832fc3c10a7e3f892021-12-02T11:52:21ZCoordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies10.1038/s41598-017-02878-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/7267d97756bc403e832fc3c10a7e3f892017-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02878-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Honeybees are an excellent model system for examining how trade-offs shape reproductive timing in organisms with seasonal environments. Honeybee colonies reproduce two ways: producing swarms comprising a queen and thousands of workers or producing males (drones). There is an energetic trade-off between producing workers, which contribute to colony growth, and drones, which contribute only to reproduction. The timing of drone production therefore determines both the drones’ likelihood of mating and when colonies reach sufficient size to swarm. Using a linear programming model, we ask when a colony should produce drones and swarms to maximize reproductive success. We find the optimal behavior for each colony is to produce all drones prior to swarming, an impossible solution on a population scale because queens and drones would never co-occur. Reproductive timing is therefore not solely determined by energetic trade-offs but by the game theoretic problem of coordinating the production of reproductives among colonies.Natalie J. LemanskiNina H. FeffermanNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Natalie J. Lemanski Nina H. Fefferman Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies
description	Abstract Honeybees are an excellent model system for examining how trade-offs shape reproductive timing in organisms with seasonal environments. Honeybee colonies reproduce two ways: producing swarms comprising a queen and thousands of workers or producing males (drones). There is an energetic trade-off between producing workers, which contribute to colony growth, and drones, which contribute only to reproduction. The timing of drone production therefore determines both the drones’ likelihood of mating and when colonies reach sufficient size to swarm. Using a linear programming model, we ask when a colony should produce drones and swarms to maximize reproductive success. We find the optimal behavior for each colony is to produce all drones prior to swarming, an impossible solution on a population scale because queens and drones would never co-occur. Reproductive timing is therefore not solely determined by energetic trade-offs but by the game theoretic problem of coordinating the production of reproductives among colonies.
format	article
author	Natalie J. Lemanski Nina H. Fefferman
author_facet	Natalie J. Lemanski Nina H. Fefferman
author_sort	Natalie J. Lemanski
title	Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies
title_short	Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies
title_full	Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies
title_fullStr	Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies
title_full_unstemmed	Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies
title_sort	coordination between the sexes constrains the optimization of reproductive timing in honey bee colonies
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/7267d97756bc403e832fc3c10a7e3f89
work_keys_str_mv	AT nataliejlemanski coordinationbetweenthesexesconstrainstheoptimizationofreproductivetiminginhoneybeecolonies AT ninahfefferman coordinationbetweenthesexesconstrainstheoptimizationofreproductivetiminginhoneybeecolonies
_version_	1718395052658524160

Coordination Between the Sexes Constrains the Optimization of Reproductive Timing in Honey Bee Colonies

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