6.15 Collection Of Nectar And Water

Question 1

How much nectar will a colony collect annually?

Answer 1

120-265lbs

Question 2

Why is nectar collected?

Answer 2

It is a source of energy through metabolisim.

Question 3

What are the allocation and reallocation problems with foraging?

Answer 3

The future availability of the patches is unknown and there is constant changing supply. The soloution is that large and rich nectar sources should have more foragers and smaller worse sites should be allocated fewer

Question 4

Describe the allocation process of foraging?

Answer 4

Self-organising and decentralised

Question 5

List external cues on food collection

Answer 5

Climate, weather and time of da can all alter nectar secretion

Question 6

How does a forager make a dicesion on whether to dance and advertise her forage source?

Answer 6

The greater a colonies nectar intake, the more slective foragers can be in advertising their forage source. When search times are greater (due to high income) the foragers increase their threshold to dance so only high-quality sources are advertised during peak flow.When the wait time dwindlers then they lower their threshold to dance so that nectar is brought in even if less profitable

Question 7

What is the benefit of flower constancy to the forager?

Answer 7

It allows the bee to learn how to best collect nectar and become more efficent. Some flowers ony produce nectar at certain times of day so this can be learnt.

Question 8

What happens if there is a lack fo storage space?

Answer 8

Stop signals will be produced to inhibit forageing. More tremlbe dances will be carried out as they will need to be offloaded.

Question 9

What percentage of raw nectar can be water?

Answer 9

20-70%

Question 10

What ratio of nectar and water can be found in the crop? Why?

Answer 10

50:50 - this is the right mixture for digestion and energy production

Question 11

What happens to nectar collected by the foragers?

Answer 11

Either fed to adult bees and brood directly or stored?

Question 12

What percentage of the colony are water collectors?

Answer 12

0.01

Question 13

How much water can a colony consume on a hot day?

Answer 13

1 litre

Question 14

What reasons is water needed by the colony?

Answer 14

o To maintain body fluid homeostasis in adult bees
o To produce glandular secretions
o Dilute honey for feeding the brood
o Dissolve granulated stores
o To cool the nest and in dry climates to humidify the nest

Question 15

How can nectar help with water requirements?

Answer 15

With nectar being 20-70% water, most of the water a colony gets is through this

Question 16

Describe the differences between nectar and water supply and demand?

Answer 16

Nectar supply varies, whilst demand is always high. Water is the opposite with constant supply and variable demand.

Question 17

What impact does a lack of water sotrage in the hive mean?

Answer 17

The colony has to react quickly to changing demand. To do this some bees may have water in their crops to use when demand is not being met

Question 18

What casues water foraging?

Answer 18

Temeprature alone does not stimualte bees to collect water. The foragers either expeience more frequent requests for water or they have their own greater first.

Question 19

What stops water from being collected?

Answer 19

The unwillingness to accept a load of water from a reciever bee will deactivate her from collecting more water

Question 20

What sor of water sources do the bees use?

Answer 20

They like dirty sources as these contain minerals and nutrients. In winter they will use condensation