Effects of internal colony conditions on the size of eggs laid by queens of Scaptotrigona depilis (Apidae, Meliponinae)

Many studies have shown that stimuli applied to eusocial bee colonies generate changes in the females' behavior. Thus, orphanage, queen displacement, swarm, alteration in the population size or food quantity, induce different adjustments in several activities performed by the workers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the internal conditions (such as quantity of stored food and size of population) in strong and weak colonies on the size of eggs laid by the queens. The statistical analyses revealed that queens from weak colonies lay bigger eggs.