The Role of Colony Temperature in the Entrainment of Circadian Rhythms of Honey Bee Foragers

Abstract

Honey bees utilize their circadian rhythms to accurately predict the time of day. This ability allows foragers to remember the specific timing of food availability and its location for several days. Previous studies have provided strong evidence toward light/dark cycles being the primary Zeitgeber for honey bees. Work in our laboratory described large individual variation in the endogenous period length of honey bee foragers from the same colony and differences in the endogenous rhythms under different constant temperatures. In this study, we further this work by examining the temperature inside the honey bee colony. By placing temperature and light data loggers at different locations inside the colony we measured temperature at various locations within the colony. We observed significant oscillations of the temperature inside the hive, that show seasonal patterns. We then simulated the observed temperature oscillations in the laboratory and found that using the temperature cycle as a Zeitgeber, foragers present large individual differences in the phase of locomotor rhythms for temperature. Moreover, foragers successfully synchronize their locomotor rhythms to these simulated temperature cycles. Advancing the cycle by six hours, resulting in changes in the phase of activity in some foragers in the assay. The results are shown in this study highlight the importance of temperature as a potential Zeitgeber in the field. Future studies will examine the possible functional and evolutionary role of the observed phase differences of circadian rhythms.

Deciphering a beetle clock: individual and sex-dependent variation in daily activity patterns

“…The finding that temperature cycling acts as a zeitgeber for the beetle clock, in addition to light, is consistent with our expectations, considering that beetles are exposed to cycling temperatures in their natural habitats of grain silos (Ziegler et al, 2021) as well as in their supposed original habitats under tree bark (Good, 1936; Sokoloff, 1974). Studies in many other insects including fruit flies (Glaser and Stanewsky, 2005) and honeybees (Giannoni-Guzmán et al, 2021) have documented the role of light-dark cycles as well as temperature oscillations as zeitgebers. The notable patterns of the average activity profiles under both zeitgebers included a consistent drop of activity just before the change of conditions in the morning which we refer to as ‘morning dip’ and the gradual increase of activity throughout the late afternoon known as evening anticipation.…”

The role of temperature on the development of circadian rhythms in honey bee workers

“…Consistent with the previous study, work in our laboratory using the gentle Africanized honey bee (gAHB) also shows that increasing environmental temperature lengthens the endogenous period length in honey bee foragers ( Giannoni-Guzmán et al, 2014 ). Furthermore, oscillations observed inside bee colonies are sufficient to entrain the circadian clock of foragers in the absence of other time givers ( Giannoni-Guzmán et al, 2021 ). However, the effect of temperature on the development of circadian rhythms in honey bee workers has yet to be explored.…”

Automated Video Monitoring of Unmarked and Marked Honey Bees at the Hive Entrance

“…Furthermore, honey bee colonies exhibit complex selfregulatory behaviors that are not yet fully understood. This includes how colonies maintain homeostasis or adapt to environmental changes, automatic adjustment of circadian patterns based on thermal cycles (Giannoni-Guzmán et al, 2021), thermo-regulation (Kaspar et al, 2018), or the individual variation in foraging activities in function of the season of the year (Meikle and Holst, 2016). Such studies may benefit greatly from automatic surveillance systems of the hives to detect both individual and collective behavior continuously over days or even seasons to provide crucial insights about biological mechanisms that express themselves over such time frames.…”