Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 2.11.
Cartoon of the honey bee waggle dance. h e dancing bee in the
middle engages in a i gure-eight dance that the other potential recruit bees follow.
h e dancer is currently in the straight-run portion of the dance. She will move to
the bottom of the i gure eight, turn right or let alternately, go back to the top, and
make another waggle run through the center. Drawing by Jacob Sahertian.
laboratory, anesthetize them with carbon dioxide, and squeeze the con-
tents of their crops into a capillary tube. h e capillary tube is weighed to
determine the size of the load, and the sugar concentration of the nectar
is determined with a refractometer. We also remove their pollen loads
and weigh them. Many studies conducted in my laboratory over the past
20 years have shown a signii cant positive correlation between nectar
load size and nectar concentration and a negative correlation between
nectar load and pollen load (Figure 2.12), demonstrating another supra-
threshold response.
2.5.7.4 Recruitment Dances
Recruitment dances are performed in re-
sponse to the quality of nectar collected in the i eld and the rate at
