For what purpose do worker bees of Apis dorsata colonies construct and use wax specks?

Abstract

The free living giant bee Apis dorsata migrates seasonally, but the biology of migrating swarms is unknown. A recent publication suggests, that arriving giant honey bees use wax specks from a previous season to recognize the nest sites. To verify this, I investigated the behavior of individual worker bees arriving to the nesting site. I video recorded 13 arriving swarms. I found that at first arrived the scout bees and next the swarm bees. Those bees arrived to two types of nesting places. One was to places where there were no wax specks were present, and the second was where wax specks from a previous season were present. However, the arriving bees were not interested in wax specks from previous seasons, suggesting that wax specks from previous nests are not necessary to attract arriving swarms and in places where wax specks are present, the arriving bees are not interested in them. An active nest of A. dorsata consists of a comb with brood and honey, and a protective curtain covering the comb by 3–6 layers of bees. The bees of the curtain do not sit on the comb. Numerous top worker bees create special hanging wax constructions namely the wax specks. The top bees hang below, holding the wax specks with their first pair of legs. The bees of the curtain hanging below hold the bees hanging from the wax specks. Thus, the bees create the wax specks as hanging constructions for bees of the protective curtain.