Fig. 6

Differences in the number of egg cups between three distinct periods after worker emergence (Experiment 2). Data are presented for queens with workers present (worker+, n = 10) and nests with workers removed (worker-, n = 20). X-axis, time periods in five-day intervals; Y-axis, the number of new egg cups in the nest. Box plots display median values (horizontal lines), interquartile ranges (boxes), and data variability (whiskers). Central dots represent means, and error bars indicate standard errors. An emmeans post-hoc pairwise test was used to determine differences between the number of egg cups between treatment types (worker + vs. worker-) and between the five-day intervals. Different letters above box plots denote statistically significant differences between periods based on an emmeans post-hoc pairwise test (p < 0.05)