ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some behavior patterns of individual honey bees in relation to body size and examines the consequences of variation in body size on the functioning of the honey bee colony. The essence of social life in insects is the division of labor among coexisting, related individuals. A full understanding of the significance and ramifications of relationships between body size and behavior will not be possible until more is known about genetic and environmental determinants of body size. Economics of foraging depend on decisions as to which flowers to visit and the behavior patterns involved in food collection. Floral choices depend in part on the relationship between the morphology of pollinator and flower because the interaction between these factors affects foraging energetics. Underlying the search for particular behavior patterns to study and explanations of particular correlations between behavior and body size is the idea that certain tasks are performed best or most efficiently by individuals having certain morphological characteristics.
