Department of Biological Sciences, Box 70703, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37604, USA.
J Insect Physiol. 2010 Jul;56(7):761-73. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2010.01.004. Epub 2010 Feb 23.
Relatively little is known about the temporal control of behavior of honey bee queens under natural conditions. To determine if mated honey bee queens possess diel rhythmicity in behavior, we observed them in glass-sided observation hives, employing two focal studies involving continuous observations of individual queens as well as a scan-sampling study of multiple queens. In all cases, all behaviors were observed at all times of the day and night. In four of the five queens examined in focal studies, there were no consistent occurrences of diel periodicity for any of the individual behaviors. A more encompassing measure for periodicity, in which the behaviors were characterized as active (walking, inspecting, egg-laying, begging for food, feeding, and grooming self) or inactive (standing), also failed to reveal consistent diel rhythmicity. Furthermore, there were no consistent diel differences in the number of workers in the queen's retinue. Behavioral arrhythmicity persisted across seasons and despite daily changes in both light and temperature levels. Both day and night levels of behavioral activity were correlated with daytime, but not with nighttime, ambient temperatures. The behavior of the one exceptional queen was not consistent: diurnal activity patterns were present during two 24-h observation sessions but arrhythmicity during another. Based on the behavior observed by all but one of the queens examined in this work, the arrhythmic behavior by the mated honey bee queen inside the colony appears to be similar to that exhibited by worker bees before they approach the age of onset of foraging behavior.
关于在自然条件下蜂王行为的时间控制，人们知之甚少。为了确定交配后的蜂王是否具有行为的昼夜节律性，我们在玻璃边观察蜂箱中观察了它们，采用了两项焦点研究，包括对单个蜂王的连续观察以及对多个蜂王的扫描采样研究。在所有情况下，所有行为都在白天和黑夜的任何时间进行观察。在四项焦点研究中，没有一只蜂王的任何个体行为表现出一致的昼夜周期性。对于周期性的更全面的衡量标准，将行为特征化为主动（行走、检查、产卵、觅食、喂食和自我梳理）或不活跃（站立），也未能揭示出一致的昼夜节律性。此外，蜂王随从中的工蜂数量也没有一致的昼夜差异。行为的无节奏性贯穿于整个季节，尽管光照和温度水平每天都在变化。白天和夜间的行为活动水平与白天的温度有关，但与夜间的温度无关。一只异常蜂王的行为不一致：在两次 24 小时观察期间存在昼夜活动模式，但在另一次观察期间存在无节奏性。基于除一只蜂王之外的所有被检查蜂王的观察结果，在蜂群中交配后的蜂王的无节奏行为似乎与工蜂在开始觅食行为之前表现出的行为相似。
