Abstract
Honey bees transfer different informational components of the discovered feeding source to their nestmates during the waggle dance. To decode the multicomponent information of this complex behavior, dance followers have to attend to the most relevant signal elements while filtering out less relevant ones. To achieve that, dance followers should present improved abilities to acquire information compared with those bees not engaged in this behavior. Through proboscis extension response assays, sensory and cognitive abilities were tested in follower and non-follower bees. Individuals were captured within the hive, immediately after following waggle runs or a bit further from the dancer. Both behavioral categories present low and similar spontaneous odor responses (SORs). However, followers exhibit differences in responsiveness to sucrose and odor discrimination: followers showed increased gustatory responsiveness and, after olfactory differential conditioning, better memory retention than non-followers. Thus, the abilities of the dance followers related to appetitive behavior would allow them to improve the acquisition of the dance surrounding information.
Highlights
The waggle dance is a stereotyped behavior performed by Apis mellifera foragers which consists in an eight-shape figure on the vertical comb inside the hive (von Frisch, 1967)
Through proboscis extension reflex (PER) assays, we evaluated olfactory and gustatory responsiveness besides the ability to discriminate odors through classical conditioning in honey bee workers with different probabilities to be recruited as foragers
A recent study evaluated the sucrose responsiveness of hive bees captured from the dance floor or delivery area within an age interval of 2–15 days old (Mengoni Goñalons et al, 2016)
Summary
The waggle dance is a stereotyped behavior performed by Apis mellifera foragers which consists in an eight-shape figure on the vertical comb inside the hive (von Frisch, 1967). The dance followers can perceive and learn the odors of the collected food during interactions with the dancer (von Frisch, 1967; Farina et al, 2005; Díaz et al, 2007) In this way, both naïve and experienced foragers can acquire information from the waggle dance (Biesmeijer and de Vries, 2001; Biesmeijer and Seeley, 2005). Dance maneuvers increase the activity of bees in the dancer’s vicinity (von Frisch, 1923; Božic and Valentincic, 1991; Thom et al, 2007) In this informational context, the levels of motivation and attention of the bees located in the dance surrounding might be enhanced by the presence of the excited dancers. Follower bees are motivated to start foraging
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
