PRF: Social Homeostasis in Honey Bee Colonies: Behavior, Physiology and Genetics

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The mechanisms regulating social homeostasis in a complex insect society will be studied by integrating behavioral, genetic, and physiological analyses of honey bee social organization. Behavioral mechanisms thought to contribute to flexible colony responses to environmental change will be studied under experimental conditions and, for the first time, during natural changes in social structure that occur as a result of colony fission and the honey bee's unique mode of overwintering. A hormonal mechanism known to regulate individual worker behavioral development will be probed further to determine whether it also acts as a colony integrating mechanism by altering behavioral thresholds in response to environmental and colony conditions. All experimental bees used in these investigations will bear genetic markers, enabling determination of possible genotypic differences in both behavioral and physiological aspects of worker plasticity. These studies promise to provide a comprehensive account of the mechanisms governing social insect behavioral plasticity, and so contribute toward the fundamental goal of understanding colony integration in the insect societies. The work will proceed for two years at Ohio State University under sponsorship of a postdoctoral fellowship in environmental biology.