FORAGING PERFORMANCE OF HONEYBEE (APIS MELLIFERA) AFFECTED BY FOOD RICHNESS AND EXPERIENCE

Year 2020, , 132 - 144, 09.11.2020

Muhammad Zahıd Sharif , Renjie Xue , Sabah Puswal

https://doi.org/10.31467/uluaricilik.764307

Cited By: 3

Abstract

For honeybees (Apis mellifera), food richness and experience put significant impacts in making foraging decisions. Bees that trace food-rich source they start establishing spatiotemporal memories, which assist them to revisit particular site on following days. There were two aims of conducting present research. Our first aim was to explore whether or not the different levels of food richness or rewards (10%, 30%, and 50% sugar solution) at a feeding source affect the number of forager bees for their visitation once the conditions are switched to unrewarding. While our second aim was to investigate that how the previous experiences affect bees for their foraging duration. For our first aim, we hypothesized that the switching of condition from high to low level of food richness at experienced feeding site (FA) will result gradual reduction in number of bees on particular food source. Moreover, concerning to our second aim, we predicted that the foraging efficiency of bees will increase with the experiences of the previous visits. Regarding our hypothesis, results show that the bees persist visiting those feeding sites that offer food-rich sources. However, the decrease in food richness consequence gradual decline in number of bees at feeding site, but the most remarkable thing is that they persist visiting their foraging trips for several days even if they are unrewarded with food-rich sources. These results also affirm our prediction that foraging efficiency of bees in term of trip duration will increase with the experiences of previous visits. In conclusion, bees exhibit considerable attachment with experienced feeding site that stop providing food anymore, and foraging duration of bees decreases with the experience.

Keywords

Apis mellifera, population dynamics, foraging behavior, food and experience

Supporting Institution

University of Science & Technology of China; Hefei Institutes of Physical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, P.R. China

Thanks

I (the corresponding author) want to say special thanks to Chinese Academy of Sciences and Third World Academy of Sciences for providing me CAS-TWAS Scholarship to pursue my doctoral study.

GIDA ZENGİNLİĞİ VE DENEYİMİNDEN ETKİLENEN BAL ARISININ (APİS MELLİFERA) YAYILMA PERFORMANSI

Abstract

Bal arıları (Apis mellifera) için, gıda zenginliği ve deneyimi yiyecek arama kararları vermede önemli etkiler yaratmaktadır. Gıda açısından zengin kaynakları izleyen arılar, sonraki günlerde belirli bir bölgeyi tekrar ziyaret etmelerine yardımcı olan uzamsal-anıları oluşturmaya başlarlar. Mevcut araştırmanın iki amacı vardı. İlk amacımız, bir beslenme kaynağındaki farklı gıda zenginliği veya ödül seviyelerinin (% 10,% 30 ve% 50 şeker çözeltisi), koşulların yerine getirilmeye başlandığında ziyaretçileri için yem arılarının sayısını etkileyip etkilemediğini araştırmaktı. . İkinci hedefimiz önceki deneyimlerin arıları yiyecek arama süreleri üzerinde nasıl etkilediğini araştırmaktı. İlk amacımız olarak, durumun deneyimli beslenme sahasında (FA) yüksek gıda zenginliğinden düşük seviyeye değiştirilmesinin, belirli gıda kaynağı üzerindeki arı sayısında kademeli bir azalmaya yol açacağını varsaydık. Ayrıca, ikinci hedefimizle ilgili olarak, önceki ziyaretlerin deneyimleri ile arıların yemleme verimliliğinin artacağını öngördük. Hipotezimizle ilgili olarak, sonuçlar, arıların gıda açısından zengin kaynaklar sunan beslenme bölgelerini ziyaret etmeye devam ettiğini göstermektedir. Bununla birlikte, gıda zenginliğindeki azalma, beslenme alanındaki arıların sayısında kademeli bir düşüşe neden olur, ancak en dikkat çekici şey, gıda açısından zengin kaynaklarla ele alınmasalar bile, birkaç gün boyunca yiyecek arama gezilerini ziyaret etmeye devam etmeleridir. Bu sonuçlar, arıların yolculuk süresi boyunca yem arama etkinliğinin önceki ziyaretlerin deneyimleriyle artacağına dair öngörümüzü de doğrulamaktadır. Sonuç olarak, arılar artık yiyecek vermeyi bırakan deneyimli beslenme alanı ile önemli ölçüde bağlantı gösterirler ve deneyim ile arıların yemleme süresi azalır.

Keywords

Apis mellifera, nüfus dinamikleri, yiyecek arama davranışı, yemek ve deneyim

References

• Abrol, D.P. 2007. Foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera and Apis cerana as determined by the energetics of nectar production in different cultivars of Brassica campestris var. toria. J Apicult Sci. 51: 19-24.
• Barbosa, F.M., Campos, L.A.D.O., Paixão, J.F.D., Alves, R.M.D.O. 2016. Foraging pattern and harvesting of resources of subterranean stingless bee Geotrigona subterranea (Friese, 1901)(Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 56(12):151-157. doi.org/10.11606/0031-1049.2016.56.12
• Beekman, M. 2005. How long will honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) be stimulated by scent to revisit past-profitable forage sites? ‎J. Comp. Physiol. A. 191(12): 1115-1120, doi.org/10.1007/s00359-005-0033-1
• Cakmak, I., Song, D.S., Mixson, T.A., Serrano, E., Clement, M.L., Savitski, A., Giray, T., Abramson, C.I., Barthell, J.F., Wells, H. 2010. Foraging response of Turkish honey bee subspecies to flower color choices and reward consistency. J insect behav. 23(2):100-116. doi.org/10.1007/s10905-009-9199-7
• Cakmak, I., Sanderson, C., Blocker, T.D., Pham, L.L., Checotah, S., Norman, A.A., Harader-Pate, B.K., Reidenbaugh, R.T., Nenchev, P., Barthell, J.F., Wells, H. 2009. Different solutions by bees to a foraging problem. Anim Behav. 77(5): 1273-1280. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.01.032
• Cakmak, I., Cook, P., Hollis, J., Shah, N., Huntley, D., van Valkenburg, D., Wells, H. 1999. Africanized honey bee response to differences in reward frequency. J Apicult Res. 38(3-4): 125-136. doi.org/10.1080/00218839.1999.11101003
• Cakmak, İ., Wells, H. 2001. Reward frequency: effects on flower choices made by different honeybee races in Turkey. Turk J Zool. 25(3): 169-176.
• Diaz, P.C., Gruter, C., Farina, W.M. 2007. Floral scents affect the distribution of hive bees around dancers. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 61: 1589-1597, doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0391-5
• do Nascimento, D.L., Nascimento, F.S. 2012. Extreme effects of season on the foraging activities and colony productivity of a stingless bee (Melipona asilvai Moure, 1971) in Northeast Brazil. Psyche-J Entomol, doi.org/10.1155/2012/267361
• Dukas, R. 2008. Life history of learning: performance curves of honeybees in the wild. Ethol. 114 (12): 1195-1200, doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01565.x
• Durisko, Z., Shipp, L., Dukas, R. 2011. Effects of experience on short- and long-term foraging performance in bumblebees. Ethol. 117: 49-55, doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01842.x
• Fernández, P.C., Gil, M., Farina, W.M. 2003. Reward rate and forager activation in honeybees: recruiting mechanisms and temporal distribution of arrivals. Behav Ecol and Sociobiol. 54: 80-87. doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0607-2
• Frisch, K.V. 1965. Tanzsprache und orientierung der bienen. Berlin/Heidelberg/New York: Springer Verlag.
• Grüter, C., Ratnieks, F.L.W. 2011. Honeybee foragers increase the use of waggle dance information when private information becomes unrewarding. Anim Behav. 81 (5): 949-954, doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.01.014
• Higginson, A.D., Barnard, C.J., Tofilski, A., Medina, L., Ratnieks, F., León Contrera, F.A. 2011. Experimental wing damage affects foraging effort and foraging distance in honeybees Apis mellifera. Psyche-J Entomol, 2011: 32, doi.org/10.1155/2011/419793
• Klein, S., Pasquaretta C, Perry, C., Søvik, E., Devaud J.M., Barron, A.B., Lihoreau, M. 2019. Honey bees increase their foraging performance and frequency of pollen trips through experience. Sci Rep. 9: 6778, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42677-x
• Mobus, G., Fisher, P. 1999. Foraging search at the edge of chaos. Oscillations in Neural Networks, 309-325.
• Moore, D., Nest, B.N.V., Seier E. 2011. Diminishing returns: the influence of experience and environment on time-memory extinction in honey bee foragers. J Comp Physiol A. 197: 641-651, doi.org/10.1007/s00359-011-00624-y
• Nicolson, S.W., De Veer, L., Köhler, A. Pirk, C.W. 2013. Honeybees prefer warmer nectar and less viscous nectar, regardless of sugar concentration. P Roy Soc B-Biol Sci, 280(1767): 20131597. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1597
• Peat, J., Goulson, D. 2005. Effects of experience and weather on foraging rate and pollen versus nectar collection in the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris. Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 58(2): 152-156. doi.org/10.1007/s00265-005-0916-8
• R Development Core Team. 2003. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
• Schippers, M.P., Dukas, R., Smith, R.W., Wang, J., Smolen, K., McClelland, G.B. 2006. Lifetime performance in foraging honeybees: behaviour and physiology. J Exp Biol. 209: 3828-3836, doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02450
• Scheiner, R., Abramson, C.I., Brodschneider, R., Crailsheim, K., Farina, W.M., Fuchs, S., Gruenewald, B., Hahshold, S., Karrer, M., Koeniger, G. Koeniger, N. 2013. Standard methods for behavioural studies of Apis mellifera. J. Apicult. Res. 52(4): 1-58, doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.52.4.04
• Seeley, T. 1995. The Wisdom of the hive: the social physiology of honey bee colonies. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Seeley, T.D., Camazine, S., Sneyd, JJ. 1991. Collective decision-making in honey bees: How colonies choose among nectar sources. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 28 (4): 277-290, doi.org/10.1007/BF00175101
• Sharif, M.Z., Jiang, X., Puswal, S.M. 2020. Pests, parasitoids, and predators: Can they degrade the sociality of a honeybee colony, and be assessed via acoustically monitored systems? J Entomol Zool Stud. 8 (3): 1248-1260.
• Smolla, M., Alem, S., Chittka, L., Shultz, S. 2016. Copy-when-uncertain: bumblebees rely on social information when rewards are highly variable. Biol Lett. 12 (6): 20160188, doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0188
• Tan, K., Latty, T., Dong, S., Liu, X., Wang, C., Oldroyd, B.P. 2015. Individual honey bee (Apis cerana) foragers adjust their fuel load to match variability in forage reward. Sci Rep. 5: 16418, doi.org/10.1038/srep16418
• Toufailia, H.A., Gruter, C., Ratnieks, F.L.W. 2013. Persistence to unrewarding feeding locations by honeybee foragers (Apis mellifera): the effects of experience, resource profitability and season. Ethol, doi.org/10.1111/eth.12170
• Townsend-mehler, J.M., Dyer, F.C., Maida, K. 2011. Deciding when to explore and when to persist: a comparison of honeybees and bumblebees in their response to downshifts in reward. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 65: 305-312, doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-1047-4
• Townsendmehler, J.M. 2010. Decision-making in a changing environment: A look at the foraging behavior of honeybees and bumblebees as they respond to shifts in resource availability. PhD, Michigan State University.
• Van Gils, J., Piersma, T., Dekinga, A. 2003. Cost-benefit analysis of mollusc-eating in a shorebird. II. Optimizing gizzard size in the face of seasonal demands. J Exp Biol. 206 (19): 3369–3380, doi.org/ 10.1242/jeb.00546
• Woodgate, J.L., Makinson, J.C., Lim, K.S., Reynolds, A.M., Chittka, L. 2017. Continuous radar tracking illustrates the development of multi-destination routes of bumblebees. Sci Rep. 7: 17323, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17553-1.