Heat shielding: a task for youngsters

Philip T. Starks, Rebecca N. Johnson, Adam J. Siegel and Meridith M. Decelle

Behavioral Ecology, 2005, vol. 16, issue 1, 128-132

Abstract: Heat shielding is a recently identified mechanism used by worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) to help maintain constant hive temperatures. Only workers perform this behavior; in our experiment, drones actively avoided heated hive regions. Observations of marked day-old cohorts within broodcomb regions indicate that heat shielding is performed by young bees to preferentially protect advanced stage larvae and pupae. As expected, the number of heat-shielders significantly increased with both the temperature of the heat source and the size of the colony. Of the young bees observed to perform the behavior, those aged 12--14 days were significantly more likely to heat-shield than expected. Combined, these data suggest that classifications of age-based tasks in honey bees should include heat shielding, and that the behavior is an adaptation designed to protect temperature-sensitive brood. Copyright 2005.

Keywords: age polyethism; Apis mellifera; honey bees; thermoregulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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