Wang Feiran, Dai Jiangrui, Xie Lixing, Chen Xing, Guo Shengnan, Wang Jian, Yao Xudong, Imran Muhammad, Li-Byarlay Hongmei, Luo Shudong
State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Western Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changji, China.
J Econ Entomol. 2025 Feb 11;118(1):28-36. doi: 10.1093/jee/toae295.
Bombus terrestris, an important eusocial insect, plays a vital role in providing pollination services for both wild plants and greenhouse crops. For the development of the colonies, the workers must leave the hives to collect nectar and pollen. However, limited findings about the foraging behavior of B. terrestris workers (e.g., first foraging period, total foraging duration, and daily foraging bouts). Here, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology was used to monitor the continuously foraging behavior of B. terrestris workers during August and October, 2021 and August, 2023. The findings of our study indicate that the participation rate in the foraging activity among adult workers was 65.07%. In addition, it was observed that adult workers initiate their initial foraging activities on the second day, with the majority commencing their first foraging endeavors between the ages of 3 and 5 days. It is noteworthy that worker bees will remain within the confines of the hive for the entirety of their lifespan, if they do not begin their first foraging within the first 12 days. Our results also revealed that workers were mainly foraged from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM and 14:00 PM to 17:00 PM in August, while, and predominantly from 12:00 to 15:00 in October. Furthermore, it was shown that foraging efficiency was notably greater during seasons marked by a plentiful availability of flower resources. This was supported by an observed rise in the frequency of daily foraging activities and the overall duration of foraging.
熊蜂是一种重要的群居昆虫，在为野生植物和温室作物提供授粉服务方面发挥着至关重要的作用。为了蜂群的发展，工蜂必须离开蜂巢去采集花蜜和花粉。然而，关于熊蜂工蜂觅食行为的研究结果有限（例如，首次觅食期、总觅食持续时间和每日觅食次数）。在此，我们利用射频识别（RFID）技术监测了2021年8月至10月以及2023年8月期间熊蜂工蜂的持续觅食行为。我们的研究结果表明，成年工蜂参与觅食活动的比例为65.07%。此外，观察发现成年工蜂在第二天开始首次觅食活动，大多数在3至5日龄时开始首次觅食。值得注意的是，如果工蜂在头12天内没有开始首次觅食，它们将在蜂巢内度过一生。我们的结果还显示，8月工蜂主要在上午7:00至10:00以及下午14:00至17:00觅食，而10月则主要在12:00至15:00觅食。此外，研究表明，在花卉资源丰富的季节，觅食效率显著更高。这一点得到了每日觅食活动频率增加和觅食总持续时间增加的支持。
