%0 Journal Article
%T Extreme Effects of Season on the Foraging Activities and Colony Productivity of a Stingless Bee (Melipona asilvai Moure, 1971) in Northeast Brazil
%A Daniela Lima do Nascimento
%A Fabio Santos Nascimento
%J Psyche
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/267361
%X This study reports the influence of season on foraging activities and internal colonial parameters of Melipona asilvai in an Atlantic forest area of northeast Brazil. We used video cameras connected to a PC to monitor all departures and returns of foragers and the types of materials they carried. Foraging activities decreased almost 90% from dry to rainy seasons, but temperature and humidity were not the main factors influencing departures. Observed honey storage and an extreme cutback in activities during the rainy period suggest a seasonal diapause in this species. 1. Introduction Foraging activities in social insects are influenced by unpredictable environmental variables in terms of timing and location of food [1]. According to Biesmeijer and de Vries [2], there are two main features which govern foraging activities of bees: (1) internal factors, such as individual memory and threshold response to react to the foraging stimuli, and (2) external factors, such as environmental and colony conditions which determine the level of exposure to stimuli associated with the decision [3¨C8]. Colonies of honeybees and stingless bees can allocate more foragers to collect nectar and pollen in response to the amount of food in storage and availability of resources in the field [7, 9¨C12]. Stingless bee colonies consist of several hundred to tens of thousands of individuals, and information exchange among the workers is a key feature to colony foraging efficiency and indirectly to colony growth and reproductive success [13]. The influence of weather on foraging activities has been studied in several eusocial bee species [14¨C25]. These studies report that weather conditions, light intensity, humidity, food availability, competition, colony state, and physiological conditions of individuals are important factors that influence the foraging activities of Melipona species. In this study we report an extreme effect on foraging activity and colony production in response to environmental variables for colonies of Melipona asilvai. For this purpose, we used a novel observational approach in order to monitor all daily departures and entrances of foraging bees. 2. Material and Methods 2.1. Study Site The experiments were performed at the Campus of Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), S£¿o Crist¨®v£¿o (10¡ã55¡äS, 37¡ã03¡äW, altitude 2£¿m). The study area is characterized as a subhumid area of Atlantic Rain Forest or ¡°Zona da Mata.¡± According to Amancio [26], two distinct seasons are found in this region: a rainy season happening from April to August (pluviosity between 1.100£¿mm and
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/2012/267361/