Propagation of olfactory information within honeybee hives (Apis mellifera).

GRÜTER, CHRISTOPH; ACOSTA, LUIS; FARINA, WALTER M

St. Petersburg, Russia

Congreso; Third European Congress on Social Insects; 2005

European IUSSI

Information exchange within honeybee hives is essential for collective foraging success and therefore to growth and reproductive success of the insect societies. It has been shown that bees recruited by successful nectar foragers learn the odour of the corresponding food source inside the hive during mouth-to-mouth contacts (trophallaxis) by means of associative learning. Via mouth-to-mouth contacts the collected liquid food becomes distributed amongst members of different age groups performing different tasks inside the hive during the course of food processing . We tested whether  the distribution of food amongst hive mates via trophallactic contacts leads to a propagation of olfactory information inside the hive. We captured bee workers of known age and task and tested their response for an odour previously collected by a few foragers using the proboscis extension response (PER) paradigm. All 4 groups (4-9 day old bees, normally nurse bees; 12-16 day old bees, normally food processors; foragers and recruits) showed significantly higher spontaneous response frequencies for the incoming food odour in the PER assay, after offering scented solution for a few days, compared to bees of  control hives. The results show that the rapid distribution of food amongst hive members via trophallaxis leads to a fast propagation of olfactory information by means of associative learning, i.e. a large number of bees has been conditioned to a floral scent during the course of food processing within the hive.