Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
1.0
Pollen
Nectar
0.8
181
241
0.6
78
71
136
0.4
66
0.2
0
High
Hybrid
Low
Figure 5.7.
Foraging activity of high- and low-strain workers and hybrids
from a common-garden experiment. Results are from four test colonies that
were maintained in cages with feeders containing sugar solution (nectar) or
pollen. Numbers on the top of the bars are the number of foragers observed.
Reprinted from
Animal Behaviour,
50(6), Page et al., “Genetic determinants of
honey bee foraging behaviour,” 1617-1625, Fig. 2 (1995), with permission from
Elsevier.
(unpublished data). She found that high- and low-strain bees attended
dances at random—they simply bumped into them, as found by Tom
Seeley and William Towne. However, high-strain bees attended more
cycles of waggle dances for pollen, and low-strain bees attended more
for nectar. In other words, each strain showed a bias for what it paid
attention to. Dreller also found that high-strain scout bees (bees that
were not recruited to forage by attending a recruitment dance) were
more likely to return with a load of pollen at er making their i rst
l ight, while low-strain scouts were more likely to return with nectar.
h e collective biases for scouting and dance attendance should lead
to signii cant biases in the foraging ef orts of high- and low-strain
colonies.
