title: A new device for monitoring individual activity rhythms of honey bees reveals critical effects of the social environment on behavior.
abstract: Chronobiological studies of individual activity rhythms in social insects can be constrained by the artificial isolation of individuals from their social context. We present a new experimental set-up that simultaneously measures the temperature rhythm in a queen-less but brood raising mini colony and the walking activity rhythms of singly kept honey bees that have indirect social contact with it. Our approach enables monitoring of individual bees in the social context of a mini colony under controlled laboratory conditions. In a pilot experiment, we show that social contact with the mini colony improves the survival of monitored young individuals and affects locomotor activity patterns of young and old bees. When exposed to conflicting Zeitgebers consisting of a light-dark (LD) cycle that is phase-delayed with respect to the mini colony rhythm, rhythms of young and old bees are socially synchronized with the mini colony rhythm, whereas isolated bees synchronize to the LD cycle. We conclude that the social environment is a stronger Zeitgeber than the LD cycle and that our new experimental set-up is well suited for studying the mechanisms of social entrainment in honey bees.
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology and Genetics, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingolf
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Steffan-Dewenter
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Härtel
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology and Genetics, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany. charlotte.foerster@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0859-9092
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Helfrich-Förster
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry / Q000295:instrumentation; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D017440:Photoperiod; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment; D012934:Social Isolation; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013696:Temperature; D016138:Walking
keywords: Foragers; Locomotor activity; Nurses; Social entrainment; Temperature rhythms