- Preface
- I. Introduction
- 1. The Issues
- 1.1. The Evolution of Biological Organization
- 1.2. The Honey Bee Colony as a Unit of Function
- 1.3. Analytic Scheme
- 2. The Honey Bee Colony
- 2.1. Worker Anatomy and Physiology
- 2.2. Worker Life History
- 2.3. Nest Architecture
- 2.4. The Annual Cycle of a Colony
- 2.5. Communication about Food Sources
- 2.6. Food Collection and Honey Production
- 3. The Foraging Abilities of a Colony
- 3.1. Exploiting Food Sources over a Vast Region around the Hive
- 3.2. Surveying the Countryside for Rich Food Sources
- 3.3. Responding Quickly to Valuable Discoveries
- 3.4. Choosing among Food Sources
- 3.5. Adjusting Selectivity in Relation to Forage Abundance
- 3.6. Regulating Comb Construction
- 3.7. Regulating Pollen Collection
- 3.8. Regulating Water Collection
- Summary
- 1. The Issues
- II. Experimental Analysis
- 4. Methods and Equipment
- 4.1. The Observation Hive
- 4.2. The Hut for the Observation Hive
- 4.3. The Bees
- 4.4. Sugar Water Feeders
- 4.5. Labeling Bees
- 4.6. Measuring the Total Number of Bees Visiting a Feeder
- 4.7. Observing Bees of Known Age
- 4.8. Recording the Behavior of Bees in the Hive
- 4.9. The Scale Hive
- 4.10. Censusing a Colony
- 5. Allocation of Labor among Forage Sites
- How a Colony Acquires Information about Food Sources
- 5.1. Which Bees Gather the Information?
- 5.2. Which Information Is Shared?
- 5.3. Where Information Is Shared inside the Hive
- 5.4. The Coding of Information about Profitability
- 5.5. The Bees’ Criterion of Profitability
- 5.6. The Relationship between Nectar-Source
- 5.7. The Adaptive Tuning of Dance Thresholds
- 5.8. How a Forager Determines the Profitability of a Nectar Source
- Summary
- How a Colony Acts on Information about Food Sources
- 5.9. Employed Foragers versus Unemployed Foragers
- 5.10. How Unemployed Foragers Read the Information on the Dance Floor?
- 5.11. How Employed Foragers Respond to Information about Food-Source Profitability
- 5.12. The Correct Distribution of Foragers among Nectar Sources
- 5.13. Cross Inhibition between Forager Groups
- 5.14. The Pattern and Effectiveness of Forager Allocation among Nectar Sources
- Summary
- How a Colony Acquires Information about Food Sources
- 6. Coordination of Nectar Collecting and Nectar Processing
- How a Colony Adjusts Its Collecting Rate with Respect to the External Nectar Supply
- 6.1. Rapid Increase in the Number of Nectar Foragers via the Waggle Dance
- 6.2. Increase in the Number of Bees Committed to Foraging via the Shaking Signal
- How a Colony Adjusts Its Processing Rate with Respect to Its Collecting Rate
- 6.3. Rapid Increase in the Number of Nectar Processors via the Tremble Dance
- 6.4. Which Bees Become Additional Food Storers?
- Summary
- How a Colony Adjusts Its Collecting Rate with Respect to the External Nectar Supply
- 7. Regulation of Comb Construction
- 7.1. Which Bees Build Comb?
- 7.2. How Comb Builders Know When to Build Comb
- 7.3. How the Quantity of Empty Comb Affects Nectar Foraging
- 8. Regulation of Pollen Collection
- 8.1. The Inverse Relationship between Pollen Collection and the Pollen Reserve
- 8.2. How Pollen Foragers Adjust Their Colony’s Rate of Pollen Collection
- 8.3. How Pollen Foragers Receive Feedback from the Pollen Reserves
- 8.4. The Mechanism of Indirect Feedback
- 8.5. Why the Feedback Flows Indirectly
- 8.6. How a Colony’s Foragers Are Allocated between Pollen and Nectar Collection
- Summary
- 9. Regulation of Water Collection
- 9.1. The Importance of Variable Demand
- 9.2. Patterns of Water and Nectar Collection during Hive Overheating
- 9.3. Which Bees Collect Water?
- 9.4. What Stimulates Bees to Begin Collecting Water?
- 9.5. What Tells Water Collectors to Continue or Stop Their Activity
- 9.6. Why Does a Water Collector’s Unloading Experience Change When Her Colony’s Need for Water Changes?
- Summary
- 4. Methods and Equipment
- III. Overview
- 10. The Main Features of Colony Organization
- 10.1. Division of Labor Based on Temporary Specializations
- 10.2. Absence of Physical Connections between Workers
- 10.3. Diverse Pathways of Information Flow
- 10.4. High Economy of Communication
- 10.5. Numerous Mechanisms of Negative Feedback
- 10.6. Coordination without Central Planning
- 11. Enduring Lessons from the Hive
- 10. The Main Features of Colony Organization
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
The Wisdom of the Hive
The Social Physiology of Honey Bee Colonies
Product Details
HARDCOVER
$139.00 • £120.95 • €126.95
ISBN 9780674953765
Publication Date: 02/15/1996
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