东、西方蜜蜂负重后巢门口飞行权衡行为

Bees Trade Off Homing Speed After Loaded

蜜蜂具有外出收集和储存食物的习性,它们将采集到的花蜜或花粉暂时储存在蜜囊或者花粉筐将它们带回蜂巢。然而,对蜜蜂采集加重后,在巢门口附近的飞行行为却很少关注。本研究采用双摄像头系统分别记录了东、西方蜜蜂在巢门口的飞行行为,通过对蜜蜂标记0、2、4和6个铝片的重量,观察其返回巢门口时候的飞行情况。结果表明两种蜜蜂的飞行速度都随着重量的增加而变慢,但是增加到6个铝片其飞行速度又略有增加。西方蜜蜂比东方蜜蜂更多地以"Z"字形飞抵巢门口。本研究进一步表明蜜蜂在归巢准确度上需要权衡负重的重量,这种归巢策略不仅在觅食行为中起重要作用,在蜂群巢门口的社会防御中也起重要作用。

Honey bees would fly several bouts back and forth from the hive to the food sources collecting and storing food everyday.They collect nectar or pollen outside the nest and store them in the honey sac or on their hind legs temporarily and bring them back to the hive.However,little attention has been paid to the flying behavior near the hive entrance after the bees are loaded.In the present study,the flying behavior of bees in front of their hive entrances are recorded with bi-camera system in both Apis cerana and A.mellifera,while the bees returning with the weight load of 0,2,4 and 6 aluminum pieces,respectively.The results turned out that the bee flied in a slower speed with more weight loaded in both species,except in 6 aluminum pieces group.A.mellifera flied in zig-zag shape to approach their entrance more than A.cerana.It can be further indicated that bees trade-off between weight-load for homing accuracy.This homing strategy may play crucial roles not only in foraging behavior but also in social defense in front of bee hive for both bee species.