Changes in worker retinue behaviors during early establishment of adult honey bee queens

Authors: Carroll, Mark; Brown, Nicholas

Submitted to: Journal of Apicultural Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/16/2026
Publication Date: 3/27/2026
Citation: Carroll, M.J., Brown, N.J. 2026. Changes in worker retinue behaviors during early establishment of adult honey bee queens. Journal of Apicultural Research. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2026.2628392.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2026.2628392

Interpretive Summary: Honey bee workers meet and support their queen directly through the retinue, a small group of attendant bees that surrounds, feeds, and grooms the queen. In return, the queen releases chemical pheromone signals that communicate her presence and quality to the colony through these workers. We examined changes in the size of the worker retinue around a newly established queen during her early development from emergence to mating and eventually egg-laying. We also examined the effects of mating on queen recruitment of retinue workers over this time. Queens that had mated or been artificially inseminated had larger retinue sizes than unmated virgin queens immediately after mating. These larger retinues of mated and inseminated queens may support growth of egg laying organs needed for future colony growth. Mated and inseminated queens also had larger body masses and better developed ovaries than virgin queens. However, we detected no differences in the amounts of queen pheromone signals released by the queen to project her presence and quality. The greater attraction of retinue workers to mated and inseminated queens at this time must occur by other signals than the well known QMP pheromone signaling pathway. This understanding of queen recruitment of retinue workers may be used to improve the quality of queens reared by queen breeders.

Technical Abstract: Workers interact directly with their queen by forming a retinue where feeding, grooming, and pheromone communication exchanges occur. Retinue interactions with naturally mated, instrumentally-inseminated (drone sperm and saline) and virgin queens were observed throughout the period of adult queen development from emergence through early oviposition. Retinue observations were recorded in situ on nest frames enclosed by metal observation frames. By the time open mating had ended (9'days after adult emergence), workers formed larger retinues with naturally mated and instrumentally inseminated queens than with virgin queens. At the time when queen oviposition first became widespread (16'days after emergence), more retinue workers were observed attending drone sperm inseminated queens than other treatment queens. Larger retinues may form in support of rapid development after queen mating and insemination. Mated and inseminated queens developed larger, more mature ovaries and greater body masses than virgin queens once oviposition commenced (16'days after emergence). Queen signaling by the major QMP pheromone components differed between virgin queens and mated/inseminated queens. By the time oviposition started (16'days after emergence), virgin queens had less methyl-4-hydroxybenzoate (HOB) than other treatment queens, and less 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethanol (HVA) than naturally mated or drone sperm inseminated queens. Queens may rely on additional cues present in queens after mating to recruit more retinue workers in support of ovary development and overall fecundity.