To defend their colony against intruders , honeybees release chemical substance signaling promise alarm pheromone that alert their nestmates to the source of danger and inscribe them for justificatory tasks . But the result aggressive demeanor are costly : Stinging always ensue in the destruction of the bee since the cut come away from its abdomen . That ’s why the operation must be tightly regulate at both the individual and colony layer . allot to novel work published inNature Communicationsthis hebdomad , when aggressive bees are exposed to flowered odors , they calm down . Bees respond more strongly to signaling containing information about food than to alert pheromones .
Honeybee aggression is train at protecting the nest , which contains the food , the brood , and the queen . Guard bee are creditworthy for respond to disturbances near the colony . They ’re highly antiphonal to visual pool stick like effort or dark colors , and they signal threat to soldier bees inside the nest by publish the sting alarm pheromone – a blend containing at least 40 chemical compound that we know about . To the right , with its front legs off the ground and antennae pointing forrader , this alerted bee is about to jump on an intruder .
To better empathise olfactory cues , University of Queensland ’s Morgane Nouvian and fellow worker hit the books the effects of flowered chemicals on the fast-growing behavior of honeybees after the discharge of alert pheromones . They collectedApis mellifera ligusticabees from four unrelated colonies in Brisbane between April 2013 to October 2014 . In their experimental setup ( see television below ) , private or little groups of bee were confronted with a dark , moving target area within a circular arena where various odour can be released . The bee received a agile pouf of odor just before face the target – a rotating dummy made of a syringe bbl , black suede leather leather , a black feather , and electric tape .
The squad measured aggressiveness by counting the identification number of times a guard or soldier bee attempted to bunko or burn the booby . They find that the usual flowered odor compound linalool and 2 - phenylethanol , as well as the scent of lavender , were able to freeze the recruitment and aggressive responses triggered by consternation pheromone .
moreover , this calming core was n’t because the bloom scent were simply mask the alarm pheromone . or else , the floral odors represent a food reward : These elicit eating and forage , while preventing disturbed bee from engaging in defense . These finding , the generator publish , offer a potential mechanism for the decision - making unconscious process underlying honeybee aggression .
you could see how loyal bees react to the sting alert pheromone in this telecasting . A pair of bees attack the dummy within seconds of their insertion inside the test arena .
Video Credit : Morgane Nouvian / CRCA – QBI Image in the text : David Vogel / CRCA
