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Nest-mate recognition template of guard honeybees (Apis mellifera) is modified by wax comb transfer

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 20:12 authored by Margaret Couvillon, Jamie P Caple, Samuel L Endsor, Martin Kärcher, Trudy E Russell, Darren E Storey, Francis Ratnieks
In recognition, discriminators use sensory information to make decisions. For example, honeybee (Apis mellifera) entrance guards discriminate between nest-mates and intruders by comparing their odours with a template of the colony odour. Comb wax plays a major role in honeybee recognition. We measured the rejection rates of nest-mate and non-nest-mate worker bees by entrance guards before and after a unidirectional transfer of wax comb from a 'comb donor' hive to a 'comb receiver' hive. Our results showed a significant effect that occurred in one direction. Guards in the comb receiver hive became more accepting of non-nest-mates from the comb donor hive (rejection decreased from 70 to 47%); however, guards in the comb donor hive did not become more accepting of bees from the comb receiver hive. These data strongly support the hypothesis that the transfer of wax comb increases the acceptance of non-nest-mates not by changing the odour of the bees, but by changing the template used by guards.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Biology Letters

ISSN

1744-957X

Publisher

Royal Society, The

Issue

3

Volume

3

Page range

228-230

Department affiliated with

  • Evolution, Behaviour and Environment Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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