Murray S. BLUM, Henry M. FALES, Roger A. MORSE
Honey bee workers produce a variety of acompounds in tissues associated with the sting shaft. Extrusion or embedding of the sting in tissue results in these compounds being volatilized and identifies them as candidates for chemical releasers of social behavior. These short-chain alcohols and esters are produced by a variety of Apis species and they constitute pheromonal blends that share some common structural denominators in both primitive and advanced honey bees.
An examination of Apis florea, the tiny dwarf honey bee demonstrated that while this species produced relatively few sting- derived compounds, a few appear to be idiosyncratic in terms of other analyzed Apis species. The giant or rock honey bee, A. dorsata, produces more compounds than A. florea and several of these are idiosyncratic natural products. The Asian hive bee, A. cerana, generates a rich bouquet of sting-derived compounds that is qualitatively complex and characterized by a variety of idiosyncratic esters. The western honey bee, A. mellifera, produces more compounds than any of the other species and several of these are novel natural products. In addition only workers of this species are known to synthesize a mandibular gland pheromone in the genus Apis.
Analysis of the Himalayan honey bee, A. laboriosa, a species that some researchers only consider to be a variant of A. dorsata, demonstrates that it possesses novel sting shaft and mandibular gland chemistry totally unlike those of A. dorsata. Its ecological chemistry is clearly consistent with the conclusion that it is a distinct species.