title: The behavioral regulation of thirst, water collection and water storage in honey bee colonies.
abstract: This study investigated how a honey bee colony develops and quenches its collective thirst when it experiences hyperthermia of its broodnest. We found that a colony must strongly boost its water intake because evaporative cooling is critical to relieving broodnest hyperthermia, and that it must rapidly boost its water intake because a colony maintains only a small water reserve. We also clarified how a colony's water collectors know when to spring into action - by sensing either more frequent requests for fluid or greater personal thirst, or both. Finally, we found that the behavioral flexibility of a colony's water collectors enables them not only to satisfy their colony's current water needs but also to buffer their colony against future extreme water stresses by storing water in their crops and in their combs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
authors.forename: Madeleine M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ostwald
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA tds5@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5613-5129
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Seeley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009425:Nesting Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D013696:Temperature; D013894:Thirst / Q000502:physiology*; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D014867:Water
keywords: Apis mellifera; Nest thermoregulation; Social physiology; Social thirst; Water collectors; Water homeostasis