Entrance position.

Entrances in natural honey bee nests are disproportionately located in
the bottom third of nest cavities (SEELEY and MORSE, 1976). To determine
whether this pattern represents selection for bottom entrance nest cavities, we
performed the following test. Twenty-four nestboxes with internal dimensions
20 cm wide • 20 cm deep • 100 cm tall were built. Twelve had their entrance
(1.5 cm tall X 6 em wide) midway across the front side and at the very bottom
of the nest cavity, flush with the nestbox floor. The other 12 nestboxes had
their entrance at the very top of the nest cavity, flush with the nestbox roof.

Twelve nestbox stations were established and 8 swarms inhabited the
bottom entrance nestboxes and 2 occupied top entrance nest boxes.

The preference
for an elevated, previously occupied nest site which is beyond 300 m from
the parent nest and which has a small, southward facing entrance near the
nest bottom, can be reasonably interpreted in terms of adaptations for improved
colony defense and foraging, simplified control of the nest microclimate, and
economy in nest construction. Also, the variables of cavity dryness and draftiness,
although important to finished nests, are not weighted heavily during
nest site selection, apparently in reflection of the bee's ability to modify these
properties of a nest site.

Insectes Sociaux, Paris.
1978, Volume 25, n ~4, pp. 323-337.
9 Masson, Paris, 1978.
NEST SITE SELECTION BY THE HONEY BEE, APIS MELLIFERA
By THOMAS D. SEELEY and ROGER A. MORSE

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