How Does the Constricted Nest Area Affect Colony Dynamics in Bumblebees?

In this experiment, it was investigated that how the constricted nest area affects the critical traits determining the colony dynamics such as number and production time of males and gynes in bombus terrestris. a total of 100 b. terrestris queens which already diapaused and were ready to establish colony were used in the study. in the social phase, while 20 of the 40 colonies that reached to 10 workers were transferred to rearing box with a floor area of about 300 square centimeters (short edge, long edge, height; 16 cm, 19 cm, 5 cm), the remaining 20 colonies were transferred to rearing box with a floor area of about 600 square centimeters (short edge, long edge, height; 23 cm, 26 cm, 14 cm). colony developments were observed during the life cycle. as a result, it is observed that in b. terrestris colonies constricted nest are do not affect switch point, competition point and first gyne production time, while it caused decreased number of workers and males together with increased number of gynes produced.