Daily Activity Rhythms of Individual Worker and Drone Honey Bees1, 2

Spangler, Hayward G.

doi:10.1093/aesa/65.5.1073

Cited by 53 publications

(44 citation statements)

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“…Previous studies have shown that the endogenous period of honey bee foragers under constant darkness (DD) is less than 24 h and ranges from 21.5 to 23.3 h (Spangler, 1972;Moore and Rankin, 1985;Toma et al, 2000). To test whether our activity monitoring system would produce comparable results, we examined the endogenous period of individual colonies of three different honey bees sampled under constant darkness: gAHB from Gurabo Experimental Agricultural Station, Puerto Rico (Rivera-Marchand et al, 2012), and carnica and caucasica subspecies from a common garden apiary in Ankara, Turkey (Giray et al, 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both the wide range of biological processes under circadian regulation and the extraordinary plasticity of the circadian network of these organisms potentially represent unique evolutionary challenges and solutions. Despite the potential insight into the functional and evolutionary relevance of circadian rhythms that could be uncovered from studying different social insects, only a few representatives (honey bees and bumble bees) have been studied in depth (Spangler, 1972;Moore and Rankin, 1985;Toma et al, 2000;Eban-Rothschild et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measuring individual locomotor rhythms in honey bees, paper wasps and similar sized insects

Giannoni-Guzmán

Avalos

Perez

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Circadian rhythms in social insects are highly plastic and are modulated by multiple factors. In addition, complex behaviors such as sun-compass orientation and time learning are clearly regulated by the circadian system in these organisms. Despite these unique features of social insect clocks, the mechanisms as well as the functional and evolutionary relevance of these traits remain largely unknown. Here we show a modification of the Drosophila activity monitoring (DAM) system that allowed us to measure locomotor rhythms of the honey bee, Apis mellifera (three variants; gAHB, carnica and caucasica), and two paper wasps (Polistes crinitus and Mischocyttarus phthisicus). A side-by-side comparison of the endogenous period under constant darkness (free-running period) led us to the realization that these social insects exhibit significant deviations from the Earth's 24 h rotational period as well as a large degree of inter-individual variation compared with Drosophila. Experiments at different temperatures, using honey bees as a model, revealed that testing the endogenous rhythm at 35°C, which is the hive's core temperature, results in average periods closer to 24 h compared with 25°C (23.8 h at 35°C versus 22.7 h at 25°C). This finding suggests that the degree of tuning of circadian temperature compensation varies among different organisms. We expect that the commercial availability, cost-effectiveness and integrated nature of this monitoring system will facilitate the growth of the circadian field in these social insects and catalyze our understanding of the mechanisms as well as the functional and evolutionary relevance of circadian rhythms.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring individual locomotor rhythms in honey bees, paper wasps and similar sized insects

Giannoni-Guzmán

Avalos

Perez

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…In contrast to Drosophila, honeybees (Apis mellifera) and bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) stay rhythmic in LL and show free-running circadian rhythms under such conditions (Frisch & Aschoff, 1987;Moore & Rankin, 1985;Spangler, 1972;Stelzer et al, 2010b). These findings suggest that cryptochrome is not responsible for the photic entrainment of their clocks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily Changes in Ultraviolet Light Levels Can Synchronize the Circadian Clock of Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris)

Chittka

Stelzer

Stanewsky

2013

Chronobiology International

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Endogenous circadian clocks are synchronized to the 24-h day by external zeitgebers such as daily light and temperature cycles. Bumblebee foragers show diurnal rhythms under daily light:dark cycles and short-period freerunning circadian rhythms in constant light conditions in the laboratory. In contrast, during the continuous light conditions of the arctic summer, they show robust 24-h rhythms in their foraging patterns, meaning that some external zeitgeber must entrain their circadian clocks in the presence of constant light. Although the sun stays above the horizon for weeks during the arctic summer, the light quality, especially in the ultraviolet (UV) range, exhibits pronounced daily changes. Since the photoreceptors and photopigments that synchronize the circadian system of bees are not known, we tested if the circadian clocks of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) can be entrained by daily cycles in UV light levels. Bumblebee colonies were set up in the laboratory and exposed to 12 h:12 h UV + : UV− cycles in otherwise continuous lighting conditions by placing UV filters on their foraging arenas for 12 h each day. The activity patterns of individual bees were recorded using fully automatic radiofrequency identification (RFID). We found that colonies manipulated in such a way showed synchronized 24-h rhythms, whereas simultaneously tested control colonies with no variation in UV light levels showed free-running rhythms instead. The results of our study show that bumblebee circadian rhythms can indeed be synchronized by daily cycles in ambient light spectral composition. (Author correspondence: r.stanewsky@qmul.ac.uk)

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“…It avoided any need for mechanical interaction between subject and sensor, as required by the monitoring devices of Spangler (1972) and Kramer (1976). The response delay of the TIL 81 sensors of less than 10 microsec allowed an accurate definition of rapid movement.…”

Section: Amentioning

confidence: 99%

A method for electronically monitoring the ambulatory activity of honeybees under dark conditions

Pickard¹,

Hepworth²

1979

Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation

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Daily Activity Rhythms of Individual Worker and Drone Honey Bees1, 2

Cited by 53 publications

References 0 publications

Measuring individual locomotor rhythms in honey bees, paper wasps and similar sized insects

Measuring individual locomotor rhythms in honey bees, paper wasps and similar sized insects

Daily Changes in Ultraviolet Light Levels Can Synchronize the Circadian Clock of Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris)

A method for electronically monitoring the ambulatory activity of honeybees under dark conditions

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