Bumble bees are eusocial bees in which the division of labor (DoL) in reproduction and in task performance changes during their annual lifecycle. The queen monopolizes reproduction in young colonies, but at later stages, some workers start to challenge the queen and lay their own unfertilized eggs. The division of colony maintenance and growth tasks relates to worker body size. Reproduction and task performance are regulated by multiple social signals of the queen, the workers, and the brood. Here, we review recent studies suggesting that bumble bees use multiple sources of information to establish and maintain DoL in both reproduction and in task performance. Juvenile hormone (JH) is an important neuroendocrine signal involved in the regulation of DoL in reproduction but not in worker task performance. The reliance on multiple signals facilitates flexibility in face of changes in the social and geophysical environment.

大黄蜂是社会性蜜蜂，其繁殖和任务执行方面的分工 (DoL) 在其每年的生命周期中都会发生变化。蚁后垄断了年轻蚁群的繁殖，但在后期，一些工蜂开始挑战蚁后并产下自己的未受精卵。蜂群维护和生长任务的划分与工蜂的体型有关。繁殖和任务表现受到蜂王、工蜂和雏鸟的多种社会信号的调节。在这里，我们回顾了最近的研究表明，熊蜂使用多种信息源来建立和维持繁殖和任务表现中的 DoL。保幼激素 (JH) 是一种重要的神经内分泌信号，参与生殖过程中 DoL 的调节，但不影响工人的任务表现。对多种信号的依赖有助于灵活应对社会和地球物理环境的变化。