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Home-site fidelity in migratory honeybees

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Abstract

Home-site fidelity is well known in migratory animals, but not in social insects. Here we show that colonies of the giant honeybee Apis dorsata are able to find the same nest location even after seasonal migration. As worker bees do not have first-hand knowledge of the old nest site, the swarms must be guided by some form of genetic mechanism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Zoologie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale, 06099, Germany

    Peter Neumann & Robin F. A. Moritz

  2. Department of Zoology and Entomology Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    Peter Neumann

  3. Institut für Bienenkunde (Polytechnische Gesellschaft), J. W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Oberursel, 61440, Germany

    Nikolaus Koeniger & Gudrun Koeniger

  4. Agricultural Research Station, PO Box 197, Tenom, Sabah, 89908, Malaysia

    Salim Tingek

  5. Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

    Per Kryger

Authors
  1. Peter Neumann
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  2. Nikolaus Koeniger
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  3. Gudrun Koeniger
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  4. Salim Tingek
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  5. Per Kryger
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  6. Robin F. A. Moritz
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Correspondence to Peter Neumann.

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Neumann, P., Koeniger, N., Koeniger, G. et al. Home-site fidelity in migratory honeybees. Nature 406, 474–475 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35020193

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