Learning patterns in Honey bees |
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Honey bees, represented by approximately 7 different species, are a division of bees of the Apis genus, differentiated as 'true' honey bees, producing and storing honey in an established colonial hive (Winston, 1991). Along with wasps and ants, honey bees belong to the order Hymenoptera, whose individuals have been credited as showing advanced sociality and cognitive function (Seeley, 1995).
A majority of honey bees are eusocial insects, regarded as having the most complex social behaviours among the bee individuals. Dependency in bee nests is high, with individuals cooperatively caring for young and dividing labour between protecting the queen and the nest and actively foraging (Martin et al, 2010). Often, a bee would not survive if unable to return to its nest (Seeley, 1995). Honey bees collaborate as parts or a whole – working together to increase the total yield per effort for the benefit of the colony. The number of individuals in a particular colony can vary from tens to thousands, making food a constant requirement to sustain the adult and larvae population. Optimal foraging in bees combines two popular theories: patch selection theory and central place foraging theory (Stephens et al, 2007) . |
Firstly, honey bees must consider the rate of exploitation of a food source (patch), and the time of travel between one food source and the next. Here a trade-off exists, as movement is energetically costly and may prove unfruitful if food is scarce, but the longer a bee exploits one patch, the less it will gain from it (Kacelnik et al, 1986 ). Secondly, honey bees are constantly required to return to the nest site, which may have an impact on how far and long a bee is able to forage for (Dyer, 1998). These theories detail the uncertainty of finding adequate food sources and the need to constantly return to the hive, important factors in the gathering of food to nourish the colony (MacArthur, 1966). Here, it is this the social nature of the bee, the spatial distribution of food sources and competition that has spurred the evolution of complex learning and communicative behaviour (Gould, 1974)
Journeys to find adequate food sources may be long depending on weather, competition and resource availability. Honey bees need to be capable of learning and communicating information about food sources and dangers to others in the hive to optimise time and energy (Hammer et al, 1995). It has been found that members of the Apis family are capable of complex visual tasks and appear to have efficient memory, with the ability to alter behaviour based on past successes and repeat beneficial charges. This information can be communicated ritualistically between bees, one of the only symbolic languages known to exist outside of humans and primates (Menzel, 2012). |