Abstract
Free-flying honeybees (Apis mellifera) were trained on tasks in which they had to choose one of three odours for a reward of sugar water. In acquisition, the bees learned this task in about five trials of training. Unrewarded retention tests showed that the odour memory was retained after 24-h delay. These findings are unsurprising. Integration experiments were then performed in which the bees had to learn two successive tasks of odour discrimination with conflicting demands. In task 1 (20 trials), one of three odours provided sugar water while the other two provided tap water. In task 2 (ten trials), which followed task 1 immediately, a different odour provided the reward. The bees were given unrewarded tests immediately after training on task 2 and then tested again after 10 min, 22 h or 24 h. The 22-h delay coincided with the circadian time for the start of task 1 training, while the 24 h coincided with the circadian time for the end of the task 2 training. Bees strongly preferred the rewarded odour for task 2 on immediate testing and after a 10-min delay. After delays of 22 and 24 h, they still preferred the rewarded odour for task 2. We conclude that the most recently acquired odour memory dominates behaviour in honeybees. The close association between floral odour and reward availability under natural circumstances may predispose honeybees to rely more on the most recently rewarded odour cue rather than on circadian time.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a graduate student research fund from the Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour, Macquarie University. CP was supported by a graduate scholarship from Macquarie University. Thanks are due to Mark Peterson for maintaining the beehives. The experiments comply with the current laws of Australia. Portions of the results reported here were presented at the conference of the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, in 2006 and at the Entomological Society of Australia at Adelaide in 2006.
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Prabhu, C., Cheng, K. Recency preference of odour memory retrieval in honeybees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63, 23–32 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-008-0632-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-008-0632-2