Fig. 3. Frequencies of bees with different temperature relationships between body parts in winter clusters on the central comb and on the cluster surface on the flat side of an outer comb. Hd, head; Th, thorax; Ab, abdomen. For cluster parts, compare Fig. 2. Body parts were considered as different if their temperatures differed by at least 0.2°C. Distributions significantly different within (A) and (B) at P<0.001, except intermediate and core in B (P<0.1; Bonferroni ² statistics). (A) Sum of three measurements made with close-up instrumentation along 38 mm broad vertical scans (AGA 782 SW) within 10-15 s after the start of cage opening. For the central comb, frequencies were projected to the whole comb assuming a circular distribution of the bees (604 bees=100%; 132 bees measured). For the cluster surface, 78 bees=100%. (B) Simultaneous measurement of all bees on the central comb of a different cluster (Fig. 1A) 3.5 s after the start of cage opening (181 bees=100%).

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