Investigation of the yearly dynamics of the intensity of reciprocal feeding among honey bees Apis mellifica L. by means of I131

The results of the investigation show that the early change of the intensity of reciprocal feeding among honey bees makes up a circle consisting of 4 phases, 2 of them being with a more frequent and 2 with a less frequent reciprocal feeding. The duration of one phase varies from 1 to 6 months. The intensity of the reciprocal feeding is the same during both phases with the less frequent reciprocal feeding, while significantly unequal in the phases with the more frequent reciprocal feeding (on the average by 2.6 times greater in the 2nd phase than in the 4th). There is a positive correlation between the yearly dynamics of the intensity of reciprocal feeding and the quantity of feed given by the nurse bee. The average radioactivity per 1 bee (from those who got radioactive feed) is constant and depends neither upon season nor the period worker bees were kept in the group. Here is a positive correlation between the yearly dynamics of the intensity of reciprocal feeding among worker bees and the extent of variability of the quantity of feed they receive