Comparative Sucrose Responsiveness in Apis mellifera and A. cerana Foragers

Abstract

In the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, pollen foragers have a higher sucrose responsiveness than nectar foragers when tested using a proboscis extension response (PER) assay. In addition, Africanized honey bees have a higher sucrose responsiveness than European honey bees. Based on the biology of the Eastern honey bee, A. cerana, we hypothesized that A. cerana should also have a higher responsiveness to sucrose than A. mellifera. To test this hypothesis, we compared the sucrose thresholds of pollen foragers and nectar foragers in both A. cerana and A. mellifera in Fujian Province, China. Pollen foragers were more responsive to sucrose than nectar foragers in both species, consistent with previous studies. However, contrary to our hypothesis, A. mellifera was more responsive than A. cerana. We also demonstrated that this higher sucrose responsiveness in A. mellifera was not due to differences in the colony environment by co-fostering two species of bees in the same mixed-species colonies. Because A. mellifera foragers were more responsive to sucrose, we predicted that their nectar foragers should bring in less concentrated nectar compared to that of A. cerana. However, we found no differences between the two species. We conclude that A. cerana shows a different pattern in sucrose responsiveness from that of Africanized bees. There may be other mechanisms that enable A. cerana to perform well in areas with sparse nectar resources.

Effects of Sublethal Concentrations of Chlorpyrifos on Olfactory Learning and Memory Performances in Two Bee Species, Apis mellifera and Apis cerana

“…By contrast, the percentage of A. mellifera exhibiting PER ranged from 68% to 100%. Consistent with previous studies (Yang et al, 2013), our study revealed that A. mellifera was more responsive to sucrose than A. cerana. In the six consecutive acquisition trials, both honey bee species were unresponsive to CS in the first acquisition trial, indicating that there were no sensitization responses in the honey bees.…”

Longevity, food consumption, and foraging performance of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera in mixed colonies

“…In some of these studies, behaviors in mixed species colonies and in their own colonies were compared. The behaviors of worker reproductive physiology (Tan et al 2009a), thermoregulation (Yang et al 2010c), defense against wasp (Tan et al 2012b), brood recognition ability (Tan et al 2009b), and proboscis extension response to sugar syrup (Yang et al 2013) in mixed species colonies were consistent with behaviors in their own colonies. These results suggest that mixed species colonies are useful tools to compare the differences between behaviors of different species of honey bees.…”

“…With more foraging trips, Ac will increase the amount of nectar brought into the colonies when all other conditions are equal. However, Am foragers carry heavier nectar loads than Ac (51.0 ± 1.9 vs 31.3 ± 1.2 mg) (Tan et al 2012a), while the two species of foragers show no different sugar concentrations in collected nectar (Yang et al 2013). The longer foraging life, more foragers and more foraging trips of Ac will increase the amount of nectar brought into colonies.…”

“…Mixed species colonies were used to compare different honey bee behaviors in this study. Mixed species colonies with the same numbers of bees in two species, Am and Ac, have been used previously in many studies for different purposes, such as worker reproductive physiology (Tan et al 2009a), brood recognition (Tan et al 2009b), comb building (Yang et al 2010a), retinue behavior (Yang et al 2010b), thermoregulation (Yang et al 2010c), defensive behavior against wasps (Tan et al 2012b), communication using the dance language (Tan et al 2008), and proboscis extension response to sugar solutions (Yang et al 2013). In some of these studies, behaviors in mixed species colonies and in their own colonies were compared.…”

“…Am has a longer maximum foraging distance (over 10 km) (Beekman and Ratnieks 2000), compared to Ac's 1.5 km to 2.5 km (Koetz 2013). Am foragers are more sensitive to sucrose than Ac, allowing them to forage on a larger set of plant sources due to their lower threshold (Yang et al 2013). However, the same study determined that sugar concentrations of nectar foraged by them are not significantly different, when nectar resources are scarce.…”