The economics of honeybee swarming

Lin, Chung Cheng; Chen, Tze Wei; Lai, Ching Chong

doi:10.1016/s0166-0462(03)00004-8

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Thus, swarming may indeed be an indicator of bee colony strength due to an increase in the number of bees, a situation observed in our work. This biological phenomenon, in which one honeybee hive splits into two almost equally-sized hives, occurs suddenly and quickly (Lin et al, 2003). Depending on the hive-handling technique applied, swarming may have disparate impacts on beekeepers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL1647 on different parameters of honeybee colonies and bacterial populations of the bee gut

Audisio

Sabaté

Benítez-Ahrendts

2015

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Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL1647, isolated from the intestinal tract of a worker-bee in Salta, Argentina, was delivered to Apis mellifera L. honey bee colonies according to two different administration schedules: 1×10(5) cfu/ml every 15 days (2011) or monthly (2012). The effect of each treatment on the bee-colony performance was monitored by measuring honey production, and the prevalence of varroasis and nosemosis. Worker bees from each assay were randomly captured 3 days after administration and assayed for the following intestinal culturable and defined bacterial populations: total aerobic microorganisms, Bacillus spp. spores, Lactobacillus spp., Enterococcus spp. and enterobacteria. Interestingly, both treatments generated a similar increase in honey production in treated colonies compared to controls: 36.8% (every 15 days) and 36.3% (monthly). Nosema index always exhibited a reduction when lactobacilli were administered; in turn, Varroa incidence was lower when the lactobacilli were administered once a month. Moreover, the administration of L. johnsonii CRL1647 every 15 days produced an increase in the total number of aerobic microorganisms and in bacteria belonging to the genera Lactobacillus and Enterococcus; at the same time, a decrease was observed in the number of total spores at the end of the treatment. The number of enterobacteria was constant and remained below that of control hives at the end of the assay. On the other hand, the delivery of lactobacilli once a month only showed an increase in the number of bacteria belonging to the genus Lactobacillus; meanwhile, viable counts of the remaining microorganisms assayed were reduced. Even though it seems that both treatments were similar, those bee colonies that received L. johnsonii CRL1647 every 15 days became so strong that they swarmed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL1647 on different parameters of honeybee colonies and bacterial populations of the bee gut

Audisio

Sabaté

Benítez-Ahrendts

2015

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“…Crozier (2008) assumes that the biological superiority of the females is a determinant for the social hymenoptera. In contrast to the traditional concepts, Lin et al (2003) suggested that the swarming is induced by the common action of many selfish bee individuals and that the mother is not its direct cause. Emphasis was placed on the anatomical modifications of ovaries and on the pharyngeal gland functions of workers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

The effect of induced changes in sexual asymmetry of honey bees (Apis mellifera) on swarming behaviour

Linhart¹,

Bičík

Vagera

2011

Biologia

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This study was built on the assumption that mother (queen) and workers (nurses) distribute their genes either through swarms (female biomass) or through the drones (male biomass). The swarming mood of the bee colonies was suppressed by an exactly defined increase in drone rearing. We studied the efficiency of reproductive investments (on genetic and energetic levels) of the mother and workers to the next generations. The equalization of fitness of the mother and nurses was achieved by a deliberately induced change in numerically stable sex asymmetry of a bee colony. A swarm was compensated with its energy demand and a volume ratio of distributed genetic information. The newly introduced term "reproductive investment complex" (RIC) includes the reproductive potential of the mother and reproductive energy of workers into care for the mother and for the brood. The number of individuals of one sex was closely connected with the weight of individuals of the oppposite sex. The described method of suppression of swarming mood was successfully tested on 60 honey bee colonies over seven years (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009). A number of beekeepers that were acquainted with this method confirmed the success.

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“…Predictive models have been developed to simulate such characteristics of grouped organisms as swarm cohesiveness and size (Domeier and Collin 1997;Gazi and Passino 2004), how individuals are positioned within a group (Breder 1954;Pfistner 1990;Stevens 1990;Dill et al 1997;Grimm and Berger 2003;Lutscher 2003;Mogilner et al 2003), how individuals move within a group (Huth and Wissel 1990;Yamazaki and Kamykowski 2003), the role of diffusion and transport processes in swarm formation (Okubo and Levin 2001;Alt and Hoffmann 1990), the effects of local and non-local swarm interactions, and the influences of external drivers on group structure and dynamics (Fish et al 1991;Hamner and Parrish 1997;Ritz 1997;Caparroy 2003;Lin et al 2003;Skyllingstad 2003). In many of these cases, the parameters present in the mathematical model are adjusted until a simulation is produced that mimics the patterns observed in nature.…”

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confidence: 99%

The use of radial distribution and pair-correlation functions to analyze and describe biological aggregations

Younge

Johnston

Christenson

et al. 2006

Limnol. Oceanogr. Methods

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Patterns are pervasive in nature with many examples being found in both living and inanimate systems. While researchers recognize the importance of the behavior of individuals to the structure and shape of an aggregation, a major hurdle in describing aggregated organisms has been the difficulty of tracking the movement of individuals over time. Here we present an innovative application of an analytical technique derived from statistical mechanics (a subfield of physics) to describe the spatial distribution of grouped organisms. Radial distribution and pair-correlation functions are traditionally used by physicists to describe inert particle dynamics. This novel biological application allows one to infer the behavioral characteristics of individuals within a group based solely on the spatial distribution of the aggregate population. Additionally, the method allows one to determine the correlation length, the average maximum distance over which one individual may exert an influence on another member of the aggregation. The analytical technique presented here is also important in that it minimizes two problems that typically plague studies of grouped organisms: it eliminates the need to track the movements of individuals, and it partially takes into account the presence of occluded individuals. This technique also permits quantitative comparison between aggregations formed under various environmental and/or experimental conditions. Thus, this technique may be of value to resource managers, ecologists, and others working with grouped organisms (e.g., plankton swarms, schooling fish, flocking birds, or migratory mammals) who seek to gain information about factors influencing the structure and behavior of such groups.

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The economics of honeybee swarming

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

Effect of Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL1647 on different parameters of honeybee colonies and bacterial populations of the bee gut

Effect of Lactobacillus johnsonii CRL1647 on different parameters of honeybee colonies and bacterial populations of the bee gut

The effect of induced changes in sexual asymmetry of honey bees (Apis mellifera) on swarming behaviour

The use of radial distribution and pair-correlation functions to analyze and describe biological aggregations

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