Measuring honey bee feeding rhythms with the BeeBox, a platform for nectar foraging insects

• Published in: Physiology & behavior 2024-09, Vol.283, p.114598, Article 114598
• Main Authors: Sokolowski, Michel B.C., Bottet, Guillaume, Dacher, Matthieu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Circadian rhythms; Feeding patterns; Honey bees; Life Sciences; Mortality assessment; Operant conditioning; Skinner box
• ISSN: 0031-9384; 1873-507X; 1873-507X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114598

•The BeeBox automatically records feeding time and occurrence in insects.•This reveals circadian rhythm in feeding in bees.•This rhythm is lost in animals kept in constant light.•Constant light also induces higher mortality. In honey bees, most studies of circadian rhythms involve a locomotion test performed in a small tube, a tunnel, or at the hive entrance. However, despite feeding playing an important role in honey bee health or fitness, no demonstration of circadian rhythm on feeding has been performed until recently. Here, we present the BeeBox, a new laboratory platform for bees based on the concept of the Skinner box, which dispenses discrete controlled amounts of food (sucrose syrup) following entrance into an artificial flower. We compared caged groups of bees in 12 h-12 h light/dark cycles, constant darkness and constant light and measured average hourly syrup consumption per living bee. Food intake was higher in constant light and lower in constant darkness; mortality increased in constant light. We observed rhythmic consumption with a period longer than 24 h; this is maintained in darkness without environmental cues, but is damped in the constant light condition. The BeeBox offers many new research perspectives and numerous potential applications in the study of nectar foraging animals.