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Homesite selection by Italian honey bee swarms, Apis mellifera ligustica (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

1980; Kansas (Central States) Entomological Society; Volume: 53; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1937-2353

Elbert R. Jaycox, S. G. Parise,

Insect and Pesticide Research

Artificial swarms of Italian honey bees selected homesites with volumes of 13.3 1 and 24.4 1 and an average of 18.9 1. Sites 100 to 200 m from the cluster were more attractive than similar ones closer and farther away. The swarms preferred un sheltered sites and those whose entrance faced downwind. Homesite selection by honey bees is frequently described by behaviorists and evolutionary theorists as an important example of the use of language by bees. The process, as outlined almost solely by Lindauer (1955), is re ferred to as a classic example of a behavioral sequence that has evolutionary significance because the bees reportedly evaluated each site for shelter from wind, freedom from pests, proper size, and distance from the parent col ony?the farthest site being preferred. Lindauer did his experiments with the dark-bodied Carniolan race, Apis mellifera carnica. We wished to learn whether the yellow-bodied Italian race of honey bees, Apis mellifera ligus tica, behaves in the same manner. If the evolutionary theories about home site selection pertain to our present bee races, the Italian bees should have somewhat different nest site requirements than the Carniolans because they evolved in a Mediterranean climate in which they would need less protection and a smaller cavity than the Carniolans in the harsher climate of the Aus trian Alps and the East European countries of their origin. In experiments performed in central Illinois in 1976 and 1977, we used a yellow-bodied strain of Italian honey bees purchased from Wenner Honey Farms, Glenn, California. The results we obtained were quite different from those of Lindauer (1955). Our experiments, like Lindauer's, included tests for the minimum cavity sizes preferred by the bees and the selection of homesites in relation to their distance from the initial clustering site of the swarm. We also looked at the influence of protection from sun and wind and the influence of wind speed and direction on site selection. Materials and Methods We used artificial swarms composed of about 1.4 kg of worker bees (ca 10,400 bees) that had been caged for 2 to 6 days with a flight-ready queen. Received for publication 8 December 1978. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.88 on Tue, 06 Dec 2016 19:12:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 172 JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Fig. 1. Swarm of honey bees clustered on a with a feeder bottle. While caged, they fed on 50 percent sugar solution. Simpson (1963) and others have shown that bees treated in this manner behave the same as a natural swarm. At the start of each experiment, we shook the caged bees onto a swarm stand where they clustered like a natural swarm (Fig. 1). We then released the queen and provided the clustered bees with about one half liter of sugar solution. To test for the minimal cavity size acceptable, we offered each swarm 12, one-story bee hives evenly spaced around it in a circle (Fig. 2) with a radius of 33 m (1976) or 106 m (1976, 1977). The hives had internal volumes of 5.2, 13.3, and 24.4 liters (1), and each size was replicated 4 times in the circle so that every third hive was the same volume. All hive entrances measured 4.5 x 1.1 cm and each hive contained dry, empty honey combs. Seeley (1977), who made a somewhat similar study, placed a 4 x 4 cm piece of tkold honey comb in each of his boxes. Lindauer (1955) offered bees new and used beekeeping equipment without comb. In this and all other experiments, we counted the number of bees entering each hive during 4-min periods at regular intervals while the swarm re mained on the stand. Seeley (1977) also evaluated a swarm's preference in part by the heavy buildup of scouts at one site. We tested the preference of swarms for homesites at different distances from their clustering site by offering them hives of 24.4 1 volume at distances This content downloaded from 157.55.39.88 on Tue, 06 Dec 2016 19:12:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms VOLUME 53, NUMBER 1 173