Honey Bee Recruitment to Food Sources: Olfaction or Language?

Wenner, Adrian M.; Wells, Patrick H.; Johnson, Dennis L.

doi:10.1126/science.164.3875.84

Cited by 106 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…An alternative hypothesis (292) proposes that, although the dance undoubtedly bears information about the distance and direction of the food source, this information is not used by the recruits to find the food. Rather, they home in on the food source by following scent cues acquired from the nectar or pollen that she has brought back, or by following the dancer herself to the food, using visual or olfactory cues (293). According to this view, the waggle dance that is orchestrated by a bee is simply a device to gather the attention of potential recruits, to convey food samples to them, and to induce them to follow her, or the scent of the food, to the destination.…”

Section: Estimating Distance Flown: Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Honeybees as a Model for the Study of Visually Guided Flight, Navigation, and Biologically Inspired Robotics

Srinivasan

2011

Physiological Reviews

235

186

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Research over the past century has revealed the impressive capacities of the honeybee, Apis mellifera , in relation to visual perception, flight guidance, navigation, and learning and memory. These observations, coupled with the relative ease with which these creatures can be trained, and the relative simplicity of their nervous systems, have made honeybees an attractive model in which to pursue general principles of sensorimotor function in a variety of contexts, many of which pertain not just to honeybees, but several other animal species, including humans. This review begins by describing the principles of visual guidance that underlie perception of the world in three dimensions, obstacle avoidance, control of flight speed, and orchestrating smooth landings. We then consider how navigation over long distances is accomplished, with particular reference to how bees use information from the celestial compass to determine their flight bearing, and information from the movement of the environment in their eyes to gauge how far they have flown. Finally, we illustrate how some of the principles gleaned from these studies are now being used to design novel, biologically inspired algorithms for the guidance of unmanned aerial vehicles.

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Section: Estimating Distance Flown: Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Honeybees as a Model for the Study of Visually Guided Flight, Navigation, and Biologically Inspired Robotics

Srinivasan

2011

Physiological Reviews

235

186

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“…To optimize foraging, insects like honeybees learn to discriminate floral olfactory cues associated with a valuable reward from those that do not predict food (Menzel, 1999). However, odors are not learned exclusively in the field but also inside the nests, for example when the intake of scented food from foragers lead to biased foraging preferences of their nest mates in the field (e.g., for honeybees: von Frisch, 1923;Wenner et al, 1969; for bumblebees: Dornhaus and Chittka, 1999; for yellow jacket: Jandt and Jeanne, 2005; for ants: Roces, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Um das Sammelverhalten zu optimieren, lernen Honigbienen sowohl an der Sammelstelle als auch innerhalb des Volkes olfaktorische Blüteneigenschaften mit einer Belohnung zu assoziieren (z.B. von Frisch, 1923;Wenner et al, 1969). In neueren Untersuchungen konnten wir zeigen, dass assoziative Lernereignisse wie die obengenannten zur Ausbildung eines olfaktorischen Gedächtnisses führen, das dann wiederum dazu genutzt wird, den gelernten Duft in der Umgebung aufzufinden (Arenas et al, 2007 Apis mellifera / Honigbienen / Geruchslernen / Langzeitgedächtnis / Futterwahl…”

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Floral scents experienced within the colony affect long-term foraging preferences in honeybees

2008

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To cite this version:Andrés Arenas, Vanesa M. Fernández, Walter M. Farina. Floral scents experienced within the colony affect long-term foraging preferences in honeybees. Apidologie, Springer Verlag, 2008, 39 (6) Abstract -Food scents circulating inside beehives influence foraging preferences in the field. However, the persistence and nature of the prior experience that lead to this biased response remain unknown. To determine how long honeybees show a food preference after experiencing a scented food inside the colony, we offered sugar solution scented into beehives. After all the combs of the experimental colonies were replaced, the landing responses of foragers were quantified in a two-scented-feeder situation outside the colony. We also tested whether bees exposed to a volatile compound inside the hive preferred a feeder scented with this odor to an unscented one. Results support the conclusion that the offering of a scented food enhanced the bias to this odor, whereas the volatile compound exposure caused a reduced landing response towards the scented option. These results suggest that olfactory experiences occurring within the beehive can promote changes in foraging preferences for several days.Apis mellifera / honeybee / olfactory learning / long-term memory / foraging choice

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“…The ability to use olfactory information acquired in various contexts during subsequent orientation tasks might contribute to the enhancement of orientation performance. Reporting that flower volatiles, carried by 3732 returning foragers from the sites they have recently visited, could be used by the recruits to search for food, von Frisch (1967) and Wenner et al (1969) were the first to demonstrate that olfactory information acquired in the hive can be used in an orientation context. Since then, some studies have shown that bees are able to transfer information from a foraging situation to an associative context (Gerber et al, 1996) and from an associative context to a walking orientation response in an olfactometer (Backchine et al, 1992;Sandoz et al, 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

Prior classical olfactory conditioning improves odour-cued flight orientation of honey bees in a wind tunnel

Chaffiol

Laloi

Pham-Delègue

2005

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Odours are key cues used by the honey bee in various situations. They play an important role in sexual attraction, social behaviour and location of profitable food sources. Here, we were interested in the role of odours in orientation at short distance, for instance the approach flight to a floral patch or in close proximity to the hive entrance. Using a newly designed wind tunnel, we investigated the orientation behaviour of the bee towards two different odours: a social odour and a floral component, linalool. We then tested the effect of prior olfactory conditioning (conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex) on subsequent flight orientation. We showed that both stimuli induced orientated behaviour (orientated flights, circling around the odour source) in up to 70% of the worker bees, social odour being slightly more attractive than the linalool. We found thereafter that orientation performance towards the floral compound can be significantly enhanced by prior classical olfactory learning. This type of information transfer, from a Pavlovian associative context to an orientation task, might allow future foragers to acquire, within the hive, relevant information about the odours and food they will encounter during their later foraging bouts.

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Honey Bee Recruitment to Food Sources: Olfaction or Language?

Cited by 106 publications

References 17 publications

Honeybees as a Model for the Study of Visually Guided Flight, Navigation, and Biologically Inspired Robotics

Honeybees as a Model for the Study of Visually Guided Flight, Navigation, and Biologically Inspired Robotics

Floral scents experienced within the colony affect long-term foraging preferences in honeybees

Prior classical olfactory conditioning improves odour-cued flight orientation of honey bees in a wind tunnel

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