Time-restricted foraging under natural light/dark condition shifts the molecular clock in the honey bee,Apis mellifera

Abstract

25Honey bees have a remarkable sense of time and individual honey bee foragers are capable to 26 adjust their foraging activity with respect to the time of food availability. Although, there is 27 plenty of experimental evidence that foraging behavior is guided by the circadian clock, 28nothing is known about the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. Here we present a 29 first study exploring whether the time-restricted foraging under natural light-dark condition 30 affects the molecular clock in honey bees. In an enclosed flight chamber (12m x 4m x 4m), 31 food was presented either for 2 hours in the morning or 2 hours in the afternoon for several 32 consecutive days and daily cycling of the two major clock genes, cryptochrome2 (cry2) and 33 period (per), were analyzed in three different tissues involved in feeding-related behaviors: 34 brain, antennae and subesophageal ganglion (SEG). We found that morning and afternoon 35 trained foragers showed significant phase-differences in the cycling of both clock genes in all 36 three tissues. Furthermore, the phase-differences were more pronounced when the feeder was

The pigment‐dispersing factor neuronal network systematically grows in developing honey bees

“…In their waggle dance, honey bee foragers communicate this location in relation to the sun to their nest mates, for which they have to compensate for the past time during flight (von Frisch, 1967). The circadian clock is involved in these complex behaviors of the honey bee, but the regulatory mechanism is largely unknown (Cheeseman et al., 2012; Jain & Brockmann, 2018).…”