Economic optimisation in honeybees: adaptive behaviour of a superorganism
Ronald Thenuis, Thomas Schmickl and Karl Crailsheim
Simulation of Adaptive Behavior 2006 (SAB 2006)
Rome, Italy, 25-29 September 2006
Summary
A honeybee colony has to work highly efficient to survive. Most of a honeybee's energetic demands are satisfied by consuming carbohydrates which are collected by forager bees in form of nectar from flowering plants. The storage of this nectar is performed by another specialised group of bees. The size of the two workgroups (foragers and receivers) are precisely regulated by dances performed by forager bees, a process that represents adaptive behaviour of a superorganism. We implemented these mechanisms in a simulation of a honeybee colony to investigate the possible advantages of bigger colonies in nectar foraging.