Meeting Abstract
39.4 Jan. 6 Affects of age and behavioral development on honey bee flight performance VANCE, JT*; WILLIAMS, JB; ELEKONICH, MM; ROBERTS, SP; Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas jason.vance@unlv.edu
During the transition from hive work to foraging, honey bees undergo numerous physiological changes, including a large increase in aerobic capacity, presumably to support the intense flight demands of foraging behavior. In this study we addressed whether kinematic and aerodynamic performance/capacity increases as honey bees age and transition from hive work to foraging. The flight performance of age-matched hive bees (age = 13±0 days; mass = 127±13 mg) and foragers (age = 14±1 days; mass = 92±12 mg), as well as typical foragers (age > 21 days; mass = 92±21 mg), was assayed by allowing them to hover in variable-density gas mixtures ranging from air (21% O2, 79% N2; 1.21 kg m-3) to heliox (21% O2, 79% He; 0.41 kg m-3). Wingbeat frequency and wing stroke amplitude were determined from high-speed (4000 fps) digital video recordings of these trials. Typical honey bee foragers were able to hover in pure heliox and did so by increasing wing stroke amplitude 24% while maintaining a relatively constant wingbeat frequency, which greatly increased wingtip velocity and lift during translation. Hive bees and young foragers could not hover in pure heliox but were restricted to hovering in gases of intermediate density. In response to hypodense gas, hive bees and young foragers increased stroke amplitude by 20%, but decreased wingbeat frequency by 9%, which in turn only moderately increased wingtip velocity. Young foragers were capable of hovering in lower density gases than hive bees (0.76 kg m-3 vs. 0.95 kg m-3, respectively). However, while their kinematics at maximal capacity were similar, heavier hive bees had 15% greater stroke amplitude than lighter young foragers during hovering in air. These results suggest that the increased flight performance of foragers is a function of both reduced body mass and physiological/biomechanical enhancement of kinematics relative to younger bees.
