Self-Organization of Nest Contents

Abstract

The arrangements of the contents of both single, vertical and horizontally arranged parallel combs are very similar among all species of honeybees, and different areas of the combs are repetitively used for the same functions. They principally differ in the formation of their patterns, which have been tacitly assumed for centuries, to derive in some mysterious way as “in the nature of bees”. Camazine (1991) conducted a series of experiments to validate one of two mutually exclusive hypotheses for the comb patterns of A. mellifera; (1) a blueprint hypothesis in which patterns develop in some pre-ordained and specified way intrinsic to bees; or, (2) a self-organization hypothesis (a reaction–diffusion system), by which patterns emerge spontaneously from the dynamic interactions among the processes of placing, and then displacing, the different elements of the nests. Camazine’s original self-organization hypothesis has been challenged, modified, and ultimately, supported by rigorous mathematical analyses of this problem. The model and the self-organization hypothesis appear extremely robust and parsimonious and remains the prevailing paradigm (Montovan et al. 2013). Explanations for pattern formation in the single-comb dwarf and giant honeybee species are perhaps less difficult. Development of an A. florea vertical, single comb nest is accomplished in 4 months after a swarm settles. In only a few days the nest has already been partitioned into areas for honey (top of comb), an underlying pollen layer below, and a central area which both capped and uncapped larval cells occur. This basic pattern remains until the mature colony swarms some 4 months later. The major challenge is the construction of the crown comb.