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Date: | Tue, 2 Oct 90 17:48:33 EDT |
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In answer to Dr Kevan's question about foraging distance... the best discussion
I have seen on the subject is in Dave Roubik's recent book, Ecology and Natural
In this book (pages 82 to about 122) Roubik points out that bees are central-
place foragers with forager density nicely plotted against increasing distance
from the nest. There are many factors, including short-term ones and those over
the long term. If you wonder about foraging close to the nest, just set out a
piece of comb and see how long it takes to become emptied! The problem is
not a simple one because the further away from the nest you get, the more area
there is available for foraging. So there must be a relationship between the
forager density (high near nest) and foraging area (increasing away from nest)
which shows the probability of foraging (area * density). This results in
higher probability at some distance from the nest (not too close and not too
distant). Its a nice problem to think about and a tougher one to resolve in
the field. Check out the book (Cambridge, 1989).
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