Hi Mike,
I’ll give your questions a go!
I presume we are discussing this in the context of the cycle from egg to adult as per the aforementioned posts.
Q1.What is pollen used for?
Pollen is a highly nutritious food which is eaten by many insects, and is gathered in large quantities by bees as food for their brood.
Pollen contains vital amino acids, vitamins, protein, lipids and much more.
Pollen is a food for all classes of bees except the queen. Worker larvae are fed more hypopharyngeal gland secretions and also more honey and pollen the last few days of larval development.
If worker larvae are underfeed then it will produce dwarf adults.
Books have been written on pollen so this is just scratching the surface.
Q2. Squash a larva.
The contents of the larvae intestine are yellow and that depicts the midgut of the larvae. The contents are brood food which collects in the midget and along with the malpighain tubles will show as a yellowish compound once squashed out of the larvae. It’s the same with an adult bee.
Please note it could be EFB.
Q3. Waste food in the cell.
Worker bees will often begin to clean the cell they have just emerged from as part of their duties as cleaners. The early cell cleaning involves removing the remains of cocoons and larval excreta, and covering any remaining material with a thin layer of wax. This is the beginning of age polyethism.
Q 4. Larvae upside down?
The larvae are never up side down in the cell. The early stages of larval growth are in a curled position laying on its side and breathing through the top set of spiracles’. This enables the larvae to concentrate on feeding itself. At about day 9 when the workers seal the cell the larva will turn into a position of head towards the capping and after a quiescent state will being to spin the cocoon. There for the head is never towards the bottom of the cell.
Q 5. Wasp larvae.
Don’t know.
Q6. bees use wax for Q cell Why not the brood.
The cells for general use are made from wax secreted by the bees when drawing foundation. The wax that is used in the making of a queen cell is the same composition as cell cappings, it has to be to allow the larvae and queen to breath.
Mike I have not used any publication for these answers as I am studying for my NDB.
Regards;
