Thermoregulation in mixed-species colonies of honeybees (Apis cerana and Apis mellifera).
Apis cerana and Apis mellifera normally display different strategies in cooling hive temperature, raising the question whether they would coordinate their efforts in to achieve stable thermoregulation in mixed colonies. The results show that the normal temperatures in the brood area in mixed colonies are more similar to those of pure A. cerana colonies than pure A. mellifera colonies. Under heat stress, A. cerana workers are more sensitive, and initiate fanning earlier than A. mellifera workers. In mixed colonies, the former become the main force for thermoregulation. When worker bees of both species were fanning together at the entrance, their own species-specific postures were adopted, but due to a significantly smaller number of A. mellifera workers engaged in fanning, the cooling efficiency of mixed colonies were closest to that of pure A. cerana colonies.
Yang
Ming-Xian
MX
Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa.
Wang
Zheng-Wei
ZW
Li
Hua
H
Zhang
Zu-Yun
ZY
Tan
Ken
K
Radloff
Sarah E
SE
Hepburn
H Randall
HR
D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D005260:Female; D013045:Species Specificity; D013696:Temperature