Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size?
A honey bee colony has been likened to an oil company. Some members of the company or colony prospect for valuable liquid resources. When these are discovered other group members can be recruited to exploit the resource. The recruitment of nestmates to a specific location where there is a patch of f...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2015.00031/full |
| _version_ | 1818424870760873984 |
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| author | Francis L.W. Ratnieks Kyle eShackleton |
| author_facet | Francis L.W. Ratnieks Kyle eShackleton |
| author_sort | Francis L.W. Ratnieks |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A honey bee colony has been likened to an oil company. Some members of the company or colony prospect for valuable liquid resources. When these are discovered other group members can be recruited to exploit the resource. The recruitment of nestmates to a specific location where there is a patch of flowers should change the economics of scouting, that is, the search for new resource patches. In particular, communication is predicted to make scouting at longer distances worthwhile because a profitable resource patch, once discovered, will enhance the foraging not only of the discoverer but also of nestmates that can be directed to the patch. By virtue of having large colonies and dance communication, honey bees are predicted to be able to profitably scout, and hence forage, at greater distances from the nest than either solitary bees or social bees without communication. We test this hypothesis by first examining existing data on foraging distance to evaluate whether honey bees do indeed forage at greater distances than other bees given their body size. Second, we present a simple cost-benefit analysis of scouting which indicates that communication causes longer range scouting to be more profitable. Overall, our analyses are supportive, but not conclusive, that honey bees forage further than would be expected given their size and that the waggle dance is a cause of the honey bee’s exceptional foraging range. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T14:04:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ae8525b7bb3d4096821b7f2835384f8a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T14:04:55Z |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-ae8525b7bb3d4096821b7f2835384f8a2022-12-21T22:58:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2015-04-01310.3389/fevo.2015.00031132157Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size?Francis L.W. Ratnieks0Kyle eShackleton1University of SussexUniversity of SussexA honey bee colony has been likened to an oil company. Some members of the company or colony prospect for valuable liquid resources. When these are discovered other group members can be recruited to exploit the resource. The recruitment of nestmates to a specific location where there is a patch of flowers should change the economics of scouting, that is, the search for new resource patches. In particular, communication is predicted to make scouting at longer distances worthwhile because a profitable resource patch, once discovered, will enhance the foraging not only of the discoverer but also of nestmates that can be directed to the patch. By virtue of having large colonies and dance communication, honey bees are predicted to be able to profitably scout, and hence forage, at greater distances from the nest than either solitary bees or social bees without communication. We test this hypothesis by first examining existing data on foraging distance to evaluate whether honey bees do indeed forage at greater distances than other bees given their body size. Second, we present a simple cost-benefit analysis of scouting which indicates that communication causes longer range scouting to be more profitable. Overall, our analyses are supportive, but not conclusive, that honey bees forage further than would be expected given their size and that the waggle dance is a cause of the honey bee’s exceptional foraging range.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2015.00031/fullforaging ecologyHoney beewaggle danceHoney bee behavior and behavioral ecologyCentral place foragerForaging distance |
| spellingShingle | Francis L.W. Ratnieks Kyle eShackleton Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution foraging ecology Honey bee waggle dance Honey bee behavior and behavioral ecology Central place forager Foraging distance |
| title | Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size? |
| title_full | Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size? |
| title_fullStr | Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size? |
| title_short | Does the Waggle Dance Help Honey Bees to Forage at Greater Distances than Expected for their Body Size? |
| title_sort | does the waggle dance help honey bees to forage at greater distances than expected for their body size |
| topic | foraging ecology Honey bee waggle dance Honey bee behavior and behavioral ecology Central place forager Foraging distance |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2015.00031/full |
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