Abstract: To study the effects of brood pheromone esters (three aliphatic esters, i.e., methyl palmitate, ethyl palmitate and ethyl oleate ) on development and foraging behavior of Apis cerana cerana workers), 1 day-old workers were fed with different food, of which the treatment group workers were fed with food (candy) mixed with one of the aliphatic esters at 1% or 0.1% (w/w), the control group workers were fed with food (candy) without any aliphatic ester; then, the percentage of workers with developed ovary at two phases (7 and 14 day-old), the width of hypopharnyngeal glands of workers at six phases (3, 5, 7, 12, 18 and 21 day-old) and the first foraging age were tested. The results showed that (1) At 7 and 14 day-old, the workers fed with methyl palmitate (1%, 0.1%) with developed ovaries were less than the control group in queenless colony. At 14 day-old, the workers with developed ovaries treated with ethyl palmitate (0.1%) were significantly less than the control group in queenless colony. At 14 day-old, the workers fed with methyl palmitate (1%) and ethyl oleate (1%, 0.1%) were both significantly less than the control group in queen-right colony. (2) At 5 and 7 day-old, the widths of hypopharnyngeal glands of workers tested with methyl palmitate (1%, 0.1%) in queen-right colony were longer than the control group, while shorter than the control group at the later phases (12, 18 and 21 day-old). From 7 to 21 day-old, the hypopharnyngeal gland development of treated workers with ethyl oleate (1%, 0.1%) was shorter than that of the control group. (3) Of the three aliphatic esters, only methyl palmitate exerted a stronger effect, causing a significant delay to first foraging age. The results suggest that different brood pheromones of honeybee have different biological effects on development and foraging behavior of Apis cerana cerana workers.

Key words: Apis cerana cerana, worker bees, brood pheromone, development, foraging behavior