Abstract:

Ten esters found in brood were studied in adult workers of Apis mellifera ligustica and Apis cerana cerana. Newly emerged workers were obtained from frames of sealed brood placed in an incubator. One-day-old bees from the same colony were marked on the dorsal surface of the thorax with a spot of paint. Newly emerged bees, nurses (10-day-old) and foragers (20-day-old) bees were collected. body sections of workers were extracted, derivatized, and analyzed for MP, MN, MS, MO, ML, EP, EL, EN, EO, ES. The results showed that body sections of different age worker in Apis cerana cerana and Apis mellifera ligustica are both dominated with MP,EP,MN and EN. The content of these esters on the body sections is different.