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Updated: Feb 28, 2026

Obtaining Specimens with Slowed, Accelerated and Reversed Aging in the Honey Bee Model
Published on: August 29, 2013
Reproduction Number and Asymptotic Stability for the Dynamics of a Honey Bee Colony with Continuous Age Structure
M I Betti1, L M Wahl2, M Zamir1,3
1Department of Applied Mathematics, Western University, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada.
Abstract:
A system of partial differential equations is derived as a model for the dynamics of a honey bee colony with a continuous age distribution, and the system is then extended to include the effects of a simplified infectious disease. In the disease-free case, we analytically derive the equilibrium age distribution within the colony and propose a novel approach for determining the global asymptotic stability of a reduced model. Furthermore, we present a method for determining the basic reproduction number [Formula: see text] of the infection; the method can be applied to other age-structured disease models with interacting susceptible classes. The results of asymptotic stability indicate that a honey bee colony suffering losses will recover naturally so long as the cause of the losses is removed before the colony collapses. Our expression for [Formula: see text] has potential uses in the tracking and control of an infectious disease within a bee colony.
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