Worker policing
Workers detecting and removing eggs laid by other workers.
Bees
Definition
Workers have ovaries and can lay unfertilised eggs. In a queenright colony they rarely do, and eggs that are laid are found and eaten by other workers. This keeps reproduction with the queen and is one of the mechanisms holding a colony's interests together despite each worker having some reproductive potential.
See also
Other bees terms
Sources
Sources
- The Biology of the Honey Bee — Harvard University Press (1987) · Textbook
- The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild — Princeton University Press (2019) · Monograph
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