The effect of genotype on response thresholds to sucrose and foraging behavior of honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.)

Page, Robert E.; Erber, Joachim; Fondrk, M. Kim

doi:10.1007/s003590050196

Cited by 308 publications

(281 citation statements)

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“…We know that bees that collect water or pollen have the highest gustatory responsiveness, whereas bees collecting nectar or both pollen and nectar are less responsive to water and sucrose (Page et al 1998;Scheiner et al 1999;Pankiw and Page 2000;Scheiner et al 2001b). If our findings also apply to the foraging behavior of these bees, we assume that the relationship between gustatory responsiveness and learning behavior is directly related to the collection of different materials.…”

Section: Conclusion For Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because in our experiment bees in GRS class 6 learned as well as bees in the other groups, although they were only rewarded with 1% sucrose, it is conceivable that a water reward suffices for pollen or water collectors for efficient learning. Nectar foragers, on average, are less responsive to water and sucrose and generally display a wider distribution of GRSs than pollen foragers (Page et al 1998;Scheiner et al 1999Scheiner et al , 2001bPankiw and Page 2000). This wider distribution of GRSs might ensure that nectar foragers exploit nectar sources of high profitability, but will also collect nectar of lower quality when nothing else is available.…”

Section: Conclusion For Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They display the proboscis extension response (PER) when their antennae are stimulated with low concentrations of sucrose or even with water. Nectar foragers, on the other hand, are, on average, less responsive and only show the PER at higher sucrose concentrations (Page et al 1998;Pankiw and Page 1999;Scheiner et al 2001bScheiner et al , 2003. Pollen and nectar foragers also differ in acquisition and retention in tactile and olfactory conditioning under laboratory conditions (Scheiner et al 2001b(Scheiner et al , 2003.…”

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Sensory responsiveness and the effects of equal subjective rewards on tactile learning and memory of honeybees

Scheiner¹,

Kuritz-Kaiser²,

Menzel³

et al. 2005

Learn. Mem.

101

127

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In tactile learning, sucrose is the unconditioned stimulus and reward, which is usually applied to the antenna to elicit proboscis extension and which the bee can drink when it is subsequently applied to the extended proboscis. The conditioned stimulus is a tactile object that the bee can scan with its antennae. In this paper we describe the quantitative relationships between gustatory antennal stimulation, gustatory proboscis stimulation, and tactile learning and memory. Bees are 10-fold more responsive to sucrose solutions when they are applied to the antenna compared to proboscis stimulation. During tactile conditioning, the sucrose solution applied to the proboscis determines the level of acquisition, whereas antennal input is of minor importance. Bees differing in their gustatory responsiveness measured at the antenna differ strongly in their tactile acquisition and memory. We demonstrate how these differences in tactile acquisition and memory can be greatly reduced by calculating equal subjective rewards, based on individual gustatory responsiveness.Learning in animals depends on many factors including the salience of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the strength of the unconditioned stimulus (US) (Rescorla and Wagner 1972). Even under controlled laboratory conditions, individuals show variance in the rate of acquisition, the asymptote of acquisition, and in retention (Scheiner et al. 2001a(Scheiner et al. ,b, 2003Matzel et al. 2003;Hedden and Gabrieli 2004;Dellu-Hagedorn 2005). Multiple intrinsic factors can contribute to these behavioral differences. Some of these factors may be related to individual differences in evaluating CS and US (Scheiner et al. 1999;Chester et al. 2003). These differences could reflect genetic heterogeneity at the individual level.Studies in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) can be very useful to identify important factors leading to inter-individual learning differences and their potential sources of control. Associative learning plays an important part in honeybee behavior. Bees learn very fast the location of a foraging site and the numerous characteristics of reward-yielding plants (for review, see Menzel

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Section: Conclusion For Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclusion For Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sensory responsiveness and the effects of equal subjective rewards on tactile learning and memory of honeybees

Scheiner¹,

Kuritz-Kaiser²,

Menzel³

et al. 2005

Learn. Mem.

101

127

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“…After 50 min in darkness at room temperature (approximately 28°C at a relative humidity of approximately 60 %), we performed gustatory response assays following the sucrose response threshold (SRT) protocol originally established for honey bees (Apis mellifera : Page et al 1998;Pankiw and Page 2000) and, more recently, successfully adapted for stingless bees (Melipona quadrifasciata and Scaptotrigona aff. depilis : Mc Cabe et al 2007;Mc Cabe and Farina 2009).…”

Section: Sucrose Response Threshold (Srt) Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dose- and time-dependent effects of oral octopamine treatments on the sucrose responsiveness in stingless bees (Melipona scutellaris)

et al. 2016

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-Biogenic amines modulate physiological responses and, consequently, the behaviour of animals. Here, we present the first pharmacological approach to evaluate the influence of octopamine (OA) in stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini), a group of highly eusocial bees distributed in the tropical and southern subtropical areas of the globe. In sucrose response threshold assays, foragers of Melipona scutellaris showed an increased responsiveness to sucrose after oral OA treatments. The effect of OA on the bees' responsiveness to sucrose was OA dose-dependent and lasted for up to 1 h. Our results indicate that experimental approaches similar to the ones used for honey bees, Apis mellifera , are feasible for stingless bees. This opens opportunities to study the variability of aminergic regulation of collective behaviour in social bees.Meliponini / biogenic amines / sucrose response threshold / neuropharmacology

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“…Foragers can be caught when they leave the hive (Friedrich et al, 2004;Matsumoto et al, 2012) or when they return to the hive (Page et al, 1998;Scheiner et al, 1999Scheiner et al, , 2001bScheiner et al, , 2002Scheiner et al, , 2003Tsuruda and Page, 2009 The advantage of catching bees on their return to the hive is that the researcher can differentiate between pollen foragers (filled pollen baskets) and nectar or water foragers (empty pollen baskets and distended abdomen). In addition, the researcher does not need a glass pyramid when catching returning bees.…”

Section: Capturing Free-flying Beesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standard methods for behavioural studies ofApis mellifera

Scheiner

Abramson

Brodschneider

et al. 2013

Journal of Apicultural Research

146

131

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SummaryIn this BEEBOOK paper we present a set of established methods for quantifying honey bee behaviour. We start with general methods for preparing bees for behavioural assays. Then we introduce assays for quantifying sensory responsiveness to gustatory, visual and olfactory stimuli. Presentation of more complex behaviours like appetitive and aversive learning under controlled laboratory conditions and learning paradigms under free-flying conditions will allow the reader to investigate a large range of cognitive skills in honey bees. Honey bees are very sensitive to changing temperatures. We therefore present experiments which aim at analysing honey bee locomotion in temperature gradients. The complex flight behaviour of honey bees can be investigated under controlled conditions in the laboratory or with sophisticated technologies like harmonic radar or RFID in the field. These methods will be explained in detail in different sections. Honey bees are model organisms in behavioural biology for their complex yet plastic division of labour. To observe the daily behaviour of individual bees in a colony, classical observation hives are very useful. The setting up and use of typical observation hives will be the focus of another section. The honey bee dance language has important characteristics of a real language and has been the focus of numerous studies. We here discuss the background of the honey bee dance language and describe how it can be studied. Finally, the mating of a honey bee queen with drones is

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The effect of genotype on response thresholds to sucrose and foraging behavior of honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.)

Cited by 308 publications

References 20 publications

Sensory responsiveness and the effects of equal subjective rewards on tactile learning and memory of honeybees

Sensory responsiveness and the effects of equal subjective rewards on tactile learning and memory of honeybees

Dose- and time-dependent effects of oral octopamine treatments on the sucrose responsiveness in stingless bees (Melipona scutellaris)

Standard methods for behavioural studies ofApis mellifera

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