Abstract
1. 1. In the winter, honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.) cluster core and shell temperatures showed a 24-hr periodicity with an inversion during the day. 2. 2. Lower metabolic rates of the cluster corresponded with higher ambient temperatures. 3. 3. Cluster core temperature was regulated between 18·4 and 32·2°C over an ambient temperature range of 11·1 to −16·7°C. 4. 4. Below an ambient temperature of 5°C, cluster core temperature increased as ambient temperature decreased, following: T c = 25·209-0·217 T a; s y·x = 2·505. 5. 5. Mean cluster conductance ( ± S.E.) was 0·818 ± 0·0040 cal (g hr °C) −1 and mean total conductance (cluster and hive) was 0·617 ± 0·0023 cal (g hr °C) −1. 6. 6. An hypothesis is proposed which states that a honeybee cluster thermoregulates so as to maintain a constant cluster surface temperature at low ambient temperatures.
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