Optimal Diet, Minimal Uncertainty and Individual Constancy in the Foraging of Honey Bees, Apis mellifera

Wells, Harrington; Wells, Patrick H.

doi:10.2307/4422

Cited by 58 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…It has been reported that honey bee foragers fail to adjust the degree of constancy according to the energetic value of flowers in blue/yellow dimorphic patches (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1984;Wells and Wells, 1986;Hill et al, 1997;Hill et al, 2001;Sanderson et al, 2006) (but see Couvillon and Bitterman, 1993). Rather than choosing the flower colour that is most rewarding, foragers quickly became constant to one or the other colour ('spontaneous constancy') irrespective of the reward, suggesting that behavioural constraints are responsible for constancy (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1984;Wells and Wells, 1986;Hill et al, 1997;Hill et al, 2001; Sanderson et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rather than choosing the flower colour that is most rewarding, foragers quickly became constant to one or the other colour ('spontaneous constancy') irrespective of the reward, suggesting that behavioural constraints are responsible for constancy (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1984;Wells and Wells, 1986;Hill et al, 1997;Hill et al, 2001; Sanderson et al, 2006). In these studies, differences in the energetic values of flowers of particular colours were created by varying the amount of sucrose solution reward (2.5-5l for the less rewarding colour; 6-20l for the more rewarding colour) (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1986;Hill et al, 1997;Sanderson et al, 2006), the reward quality (e.g. 0.75 vs 2.5moll -1 sucrose solution) (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1986), the distance between flowers (Hill et al, 2001) or handling time (Sanderson et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these studies, differences in the energetic values of flowers of particular colours were created by varying the amount of sucrose solution reward (2.5-5l for the less rewarding colour; 6-20l for the more rewarding colour) (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1986;Hill et al, 1997;Sanderson et al, 2006), the reward quality (e.g. 0.75 vs 2.5moll -1 sucrose solution) (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1986), the distance between flowers (Hill et al, 2001) or handling time (Sanderson et al, 2006). Flower constancy may also be favoured by neurological constraints such as temporal limitations of information processing or interference sensitivity of short-term memory (Chittka et al, 1999;Raine and Chittka, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…volume or sugar concentration) of flowers of distinctive colours, like yellow and blue. One potential problem in the studies that found spontaneous colour constancy in blue/yellow patches is that flower reward quantities were unnaturally high, between 2 and 20l per flower (Wells and Wells, 1983;Wells and Wells, 1986;Hill et al, 1997;Hills et al, 2001;Sanderson et al, 2006). Individual A. mellifera foragers collect up to ca.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flower constancy in honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) depends on ecologically realistic rewards

Grüter

Moore

Firmin

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYAs first described by Aristotle, honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers show a strong tendency to visit flowers of only one type during a foraging trip. It is known that workers rapidly learn a flower colour when rewarded with artificial nectar (sucrose solution). However, some previous studies report that the degree of constancy after training is unaffected by reward quantity and quality when bees are tested in an array of artificial flowers of two easily distinguished colours, such as blue and yellow. One possible reason for this surprising result is that large reward volumes were compared. This is likely to mask the abilities of foragers to make adaptive decisions under more realistic conditions. To test this possibility, we offered untrained honey bee workers ecologically relevant rewards (0.5, 1 or 2l of 0.5 or 1moll -1 sucrose solution) on one or two consecutive yellow or blue artificial flowers and then recorded which flowers the bees subsequently landed on in an array of 40 empty flowers. The results showed that an increase in all three factors (volume, concentration and number of rewards) significantly increased constancy (proportion of visits to flowers of the trained colour) and persistence (number of flowers visited) during the foraging bout. Constancy for the least rewarding situation was 75.9% compared with 98.6% for the most rewarding situation. These results clearly show that honey bee workers do become more constant to blue or yellow with increasing nectar rewards, provided that the rewards used are ecologically realistic. As the most rewarding conditions led to nearly 100% constancy, further reward increases during training would not have been able to further increase constancy. This explains why previous studies comparing large rewards found no effect of reward on constancy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flower constancy in honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) depends on ecologically realistic rewards

Grüter

Moore

Firmin

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Pyke, 1978;Wells & Wells, 1986;Zimmerman, 1979Zimmerman, , 1982bHill et al, 1997;Rasheed & Harder, 1997). The foraging behavior of tropical solitary bee species has been neglected, in spite of their great diversity (Roubik, 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging behavior of bee pollinators on the tropical weed Triumfetta semitriloba: flight distance and directionality

2000

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We studied flight distance and directionality of bee pollinators on the tropical shrub weed Triumfetta semitriloba Jacq. (Tiliaceae), addressing (1) within-and between-plant movement pattern; (2) distances flown between plants; (3) flight directionality. Flowering plants were distributed in well-delimited clumps, in each of two pasture areas (A1 and A2) and one area of forest gap (A3), in Viçosa, southeastern Brazil. Five solitary bee species, Augochlorella michaelis, Augochloropsis cupreola, Pseudocentron paulistana, Ceratinula sp., Melissodes sexcincta, and two social bee, Plebeia droryana, P. cf. nigriceps were observed. All species moved mainly to the nearest flower on the same individual plant and, in between-plant movements, to the first or second nearest neighbor. All species moved non-randomly, presenting a flight directionality in departures (maintenance of flight direction), but with a high frequency of turn angles. It is suggested that this foraging behavior pattern occurred because of the resource quantity and quality (pollen or nectar), and environmental characteristics such as flower density and resource distribution.Key words: foraging behaviour, directionality, pollination, flight distance, solitary bees. RESUMO Comportamento de forrageamento das abelhas polinizadoras da planta invasoraTriumfetta semitriloba: distância de vôo e direcionalidade Estudamos a distância de vôo e a direcionalidade de abelhas polinizadoras da planta invasora Triumfetta semitriloba Jacq. (Tiliaceae), sobre os seguintes aspectos: (1) padrão de movimentação dentro e entre plantas; (2) distância de vôo entre plantas; (3) direcionalidade de vôo. As plantas floridas eram distribuídas em manchas bem delimitadas, em duas áreas de pasto (A1 e A2) e uma área de clareira de mata (A3), em Viçosa, MG, Sudeste do Brasil. Foram observadas cinco espécies de abelhas solitárias, Augochlorella michaelis, Augochloropsis cupreola, Pseudocentron paulistana, Ceratinula sp., Melissodes sexcincta e duas espécies sociais, Plebeia droryana, P. cf. nigriceps. Todas as espécies moveram principalmente para a flor mais próxima, dentro da mesma planta e, nos movimentos entre plantas, para o primeiro ou segundo vizinho mais próximo. Todas as espécies apresentaram uma direcionalidade no padrão de vôo, ou seja, uma movimentação não aleatória, mas com uma alta freqüência de ângulos laterais. Sugere-se que esse padrão de comportamento de forrageamento ocorreu devido à qualidade e quantidade de recurso (pólen ou néctar) e às características ambientais como a densidade de flores e distribuição do recurso nas manchas.Palavras-chave: comportamento de forrageamento, direcionalidade, polinização, distância de vôo, abelhas solitárias.

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Volume and density of microglomeruli in the honey bee mushroom bodies do not predict performance on a foraging task

Nest

Wagner

Marrs

et al. 2017

Developmental Neurobiology

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The mushroom bodies (MBs) are insect brain regions important for sensory integration, learning, and memory. In adult worker honey bees (Apis mellifera), the volume of neuropil associated with the MBs is larger in experienced foragers compared with hive bees and less experienced foragers. In addition, the characteristic synaptic structures of the calycal neuropils, the microglomeruli, are larger but present at lower density in 35-day-old foragers relative to 1-day-old workers. Age- and experience-based changes in plasticity of the MBs are assumed to support performance of challenging tasks, but the behavioral consequences of brain plasticity in insects are rarely examined. In this study, foragers were recruited from a field hive to a patch comprising two colors of otherwise identical artificial flowers. Flowers of one color contained a sucrose reward mimicking nectar; flowers of the second were empty. Task difficulty was adjusted by changing flower colors according to the principle of honey bee color vision space. Microglomerular volume and density in the lip (olfactory inputs) and collar (visual inputs) compartments of the MB calyces were analyzed using anti-synapsin I immunolabeling and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Foragers displayed significant variation in microglomerular volume and density, but no correlation was found between these synaptic attributes and foraging performance. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 1057-1071, 2017.

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Optimal Diet, Minimal Uncertainty and Individual Constancy in the Foraging of Honey Bees, Apis mellifera

Cited by 58 publications

References 21 publications

Flower constancy in honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) depends on ecologically realistic rewards

Flower constancy in honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) depends on ecologically realistic rewards

Foraging behavior of bee pollinators on the tropical weed Triumfetta semitriloba: flight distance and directionality

Volume and density of microglomeruli in the honey bee mushroom bodies do not predict performance on a foraging task

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