Figure 1. Experimental design. A) To decouple age and behavioral task, we created two single-cohort colonies (SCC) with 4500 and 3500 bees. In a SCC, all bees are the same age and a proportion will differentiate into precocious foragers. We also established a marked cohort to sample normal age bees following classic ontogeny patterns. B) F = Forager, N = Nurse. Sampling occurred at day 7, 13, 19, and 27. C) Normal (age-right) ontogeny occurs under normal colony demography. Atypical represented by^a, designates a decoupling of age and behavior in response to colony needs. 19-day nurses are neither normal nor atypical, but represent an overage nurse or nurse that will soon transition into foraging.