 One of the first examples of worker policing to be discovered was in the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Worker policing is prevalent in most honey bee colonies, and worker reproduction is minimal (0.12 %) in this species. Worker policing occurs via egg-eating (oophagy) in Apis mellifera colonies. In many of these hives, the activation of ovaries in fertile females is diminished, suggesting that there are disincentives to laying eggs.
