Here are a few references to honey bees, fire and absconding:
Disturbance-induced absconding is caused by predators, fire, inability to regulate temperature due to cold or excessive sunlight, rain entering the nest, and beekeeping manipulations. In these cases, colonies abscond within hours, or at most a few days, after the disturbance
Absconding is not a viable strategy for temperate honey bees because absconding swarms cannot collect sufficient nectar to survive the next winter. In contrast, tropical honey bees abscond during a dearth season, searching for better forage rather than utilizing stored honey to survive.
Indeed, absconding swarms may travel as far as 160km or more before constructing a new nest, migrating through areas of poor resources until they discover a better area with abundant but localized floral resources
Finally, the feral bees in tropical Latin America are almost identical to African bees in their swarming, absconding, and defensive behavior, again indicating how little effect European bees have had on the feral African type.
* * *
Absconding is a behavioural trait of all honeybees but is particularly well expressed in many African subspecies of Apis mellifera and other tropical species of Apis. Absconding in the same population may be resource-related and seasonal or result from disturbances such as fire, predation (including bee-keeping manipulations) and declining nest quality. In disturbance related absconding a honeybee colony often abandons eggs, open and capped brood, food reserves, foragers afield and, sometimes, even the queen.
From a beekeeping perspective absconding represents a loss in production so it has acquired a rather negative connotation. However, from an evolutionary perspective, absconding is probably a major survival strategy in tropical climates where year-round conditions are equitable for some flower- ing and for honeybee flight. Honeybees of the temperate regions need to invest in large food stores in thermally secure nests to survive the harsh winter. Tropical honeybees are far less sessile than temperate bees and can follow honey flows or abscond to avoid nest predators.
* * *
There are two categories of absconding: "disturbance induced" and "seasonal." Disturbance-induced absconding can occur at any time of the year and is a more-or-less immediate response to a sudden deterioration in the quality of a nest cavity, brought about by predation, fire, an invasion of pests, or overheating. In contrast, seasonal absconding occurs during distinct times of the year and may be associated with seasonal fluctuations in resource availability, weather, the incidence of pests, or colony size due to reproductive swarming.
PLB
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
