Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Altruism01:03

Altruism

Altruistic behaviors are “unselfish” behaviors—those that help another individual at the expense of the individual carrying out the behavior. Despite the negative consequences for the altruistic animal, these behaviors are thought to have evolved for several reasons.
What is Behavior?00:54

What is Behavior?

Behaviors are actions that an organism engages in—they can be related to finding food, reproducing, defending against threats, and many other possible actions. Behaviors include activities related to the environment around the animal—such as migration—as well as social interactions within a species or population. Many behaviors involve motor output—that is, muscle movements—while others involve less visible actions, such as learning.
Robbers Cave04:49

Robbers Cave

During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension could be...
Obedience01:08

Obedience

According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation, obedience...
Parental Care00:55

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
Inclusive Fitness00:57

Inclusive Fitness

Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Reading taste in a bee's face.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Special issue: Bee Aware-behavioral plasticity, dysregulation, and cross-species integration in a changing world Social bee communication in a changing world.

Integrative and comparative biology·2026
Same author

The audience shapes the information content of the honey bee waggle dance.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Immune priming of honey bees protects against a major microsporidian pathogen.

Pest management science·2025
Same author

Honey Bees Can Use Sequence Learning to Predict Rewards from a Prior Unrewarded Visual Stimulus.

Insects·2025
Same author

Bee fear responses are mediated by dopamine and influence cognition.

The Journal of animal ecology·2024

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
05:04

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect

Published on: September 22, 2023

Animal behavior: the orphan rebellion.

James C Nieh1

  • 1University of California San Diego, Section of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution Division of Biological Sciences, Gilman Drive La Jolla, CA 92093-0116, USA. jnieh@ucsd.edu

Current Biology : CB
|April 28, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Honeybee orphans develop selfish traits after queen loss. These bees have reduced feeding glands and enhanced ovaries for self-reproduction, impacting colony dynamics.

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Social Insects
  • Honeybee Biology

Background:

  • Honeybee colonies rely on a strict social hierarchy with a reproductive queen.
  • Swarming, a natural reproductive process, leads to queen loss and colony disruption.
  • Orphaned larvae in honeybee colonies may exhibit altered developmental pathways.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the behavioral and physiological changes in honeybee larvae orphaned after queen swarming.
  • To understand the 'rebel' traits that emerge in these orphaned individuals.
  • To determine the impact of these changes on colony function and individual survival.

Main Methods:

  • Observation of honeybee colonies post-swarming.
  • Larval rearing and developmental analysis.

More Related Videos

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice
04:20

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Published on: July 12, 2024

Who is Who? Non-invasive Methods to Individually Sex and Mark Altricial Chicks
08:14

Who is Who? Non-invasive Methods to Individually Sex and Mark Altricial Chicks

Published on: May 24, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 22, 2026

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
05:04

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect

Published on: September 22, 2023

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice
04:20

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Published on: July 12, 2024

Who is Who? Non-invasive Methods to Individually Sex and Mark Altricial Chicks
08:14

Who is Who? Non-invasive Methods to Individually Sex and Mark Altricial Chicks

Published on: May 24, 2014

  • Physiological assessments of adult bees, including gland development and ovarian status.

    • Main Results:

    • Orphaned larvae develop into adult bees with significantly reduced hypopharyngeal glands (food glands).
    • These adult orphans display more developed ovaries compared to non-orphaned bees.
    • The observed traits suggest a shift towards selfish reproduction rather than cooperative brood care.

    Conclusions:

    • Honeybee orphans exhibit a 'rebel' phenotype, prioritizing self-reproduction over colony needs.
    • This behavioral shift is a direct consequence of queen loss and larval orphanhood.
    • The findings provide insights into social behavior plasticity and evolutionary strategies in honeybees.