Jun Nakamura, Honeybee Science Research Center, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, Japan and Thomas D. Seeley, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Seeley G. Mudd Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.
Honeybees, Apis mellifera, use plant resin to produce propolis as a nest building material. In this study, we investigated how resin collection is performed and controlled as part of the functional organization of a honeybee colony. By means of intensive observations of resin collectors and resin users inside a hive, we found several differences between the collection behaviors for resin and food (nectar and pollen). (1) There is an absence of strict division of labor in resin work unlike in food work. We found a weak division by age between in-hive (user) and out-hive (collector) tasks in the resin work: normally, elderly (20+ day old) workers collect resin and middle age (10-20 day old) workers take resin from collectors and use it to caulk crevices. However, some resin collectors also used resin (caulked crevices) when they returned to the hive. (2) Resin collectors began their work outside the hive as resin collectors and some then shifted to pollen or nectar collection but others stayed engaged in resin collection. Foragers, on the other hand, never shifted to resin collection. (3) The spatial patterns of unloading and waggle dancing were different for resin workers and food workers. The activities for resin work were located where caulking was being performed, deep inside the hive, whereas those for food work were located just inside the hive entrance. Upon entering the hive, resin collectors immediately moved to the caulking sites for unloading, thereby providing resin for the caulking bees to seal crevices near their work sites.
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