The influence of available comb storage space on the performance of honey bee communication signals that regulate foraging

Abstract

Numerous activities within honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies rely on feedback loops for organization at the group level. Many of the processes associated with the feedback loops organizing a honey bee colony's activities are in striking parallel to other systems, such as intercellular interactions involved in motor neuron function, and principles derived from their study can be applied to these diverse fields, among others. This study looked at the communication signals honey bees employ while provisioning their nest with food to assess whether or not the bees use signals when their hive has no more available storage space. In this experiment, the storage space was alternated each day between no available space and ample space. The communication signals used by the bees were counted during each treatment and compared. When the hive had no storage space available, significantly more stop signals, which inhibit foraging, and tremble dances, which recruit more bees to unload incoming foragers, were observed. This suggests that the bees had noted the absence of storage space and were modifying their communication accordingly.

Negative feedback may suppress variation to improve collective foraging performance

“…Several studies have interpreted negative feedback as a mechanism to reduce recruitment to a resource based on some aspect of its quality, for example allowing unrewarded trails to be shut down [ 6 , 7 ], allowing recruitment to a crowded source of forage to be reduced [ 10 ], or transferring information that a forage patch may have an increased predation risk [ 8 , 11 ]. Subsequent studies have similarly focussed on the role of negative feedback in dealing with time-varying forage patches [ 12 , 13 ], or with the amount of available comb storage space [ 14 ].…”