Table 1.
Experiment | Experimental manipulation | Experimental conditions | Results |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nurse-age workers were caged on a broodless honey comb inside the hive | Hive: + | Behavior: caged bees showed activity rhythms similar to those of foragers, nurses were active around the clock. |
Brood: − | |||
Queen: +? | Clock gene expression: strong oscillations in caged bees and foragers but not in nurses. | ||
Comb: + | |||
IL: LD | |||
2 | Nurses were caged on a brood-containing or broodless comb outside the hive | Hive: − | Behavior: nurses with brood were active around the clock; nurses without brood were more active during the day. |
Brood: +/− | |||
Queen: − | Clock gene expression: strong oscillations in nurses caged without brood and in foragers, attenuated oscillations in nurses caged on a comb with brood. | ||
Comb: + | |||
IL: LD | |||
3 | Nurses were transferred to individual cages in constant lab environment | Hive: − | Nurses showed circadian rhythms in locomotor activity shortly after transfer to the lab. |
Brood: − | |||
Queen: − | |||
Comb: − | |||
IL: entrainment in LD, monitoring in DD | |||
4 | A group of nurses were removed from the hive to a cage for 16 h and then sampled every 4 h | Hive: − | Strong oscillations in foragers, weaker but significant oscillations in nurses that were transferred to a cage, attenuated oscillations in nurses. |
Brood: − | |||
Queen: − | |||
Comb: + | |||
IL: LD | |||
5 | A group of nurses were removed from the hive to a cage for 8 h and then sampled every 4 h | Hive: − | Strong oscillations in foragers, attenuated oscillations in nurses and in nurses that were transferred to a cage. |
Brood: − | |||
Queen: − | |||
Comb: + | |||
IL: LD |
IL, Illumination regime; LD, 12 h light/dark; DD, constant dim red light.