title: Decision-making in honeybee swarms based on quality and distance information of candidate nest sites.
abstract: In the nest-site selection process of honeybee swarms, an individual bee performs a waggle dance to communicate information about direction, quality, and distance of a discovered site to other bees at the swarm. Initially, different groups of bees dance to represent different potential sites, but eventually the swarm usually reaches an agreement for only one site. Here, we model the nest-site selection process in honeybee swarms of Apis mellifera and show how the swarms make adaptive decisions based on a trade-off between the quality and distance to candidate nest sites. We use bifurcation analysis and stochastic simulations to reveal that the swarm's site distance preference is moderate>near>far when the swarms choose between low quality sites. However, the distance preference becomes near>moderate>far when the swarms choose between high quality sites. Our simulations also indicate that swarms with large population size prefer nearer sites and, in addition, are more adaptive at making decisions based on available information compared to swarms with smaller population size.
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, School of Bioresources and Technology, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (Bang Khun Thian Campus), Bangkok 10150, Thailand; Systems Biology and Bioinformatics Research Group, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (Bang Khun Thian Campus), Bangkok 10150, Thailand. Electronic address: teeraphan.lao@mail.kmutt.ac.th.
authors.forename: Teeraphan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laomettachit
authors.affiliation: Learning Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand.
authors.forename: Teerasit
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Termsaithong
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand.
authors.forename: Anuwat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sae-Tang
authors.affiliation: King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (Ratchaburi Campus), Bangkok 10140, Thailand.
authors.forename: Orawan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Duangphakdee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003657:Decision Making; D008954:Models, Biological; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D013269:Stochastic Processes
keywords: Bifurcation analysis; Group decision-making; Nest-site selection; Stochastic simulation