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Research Article
Drinking made easier: honey bee tongues dip faster into warmer and/or less viscous artificial nectar
Lianhui Shi, Susan W. Nicolson, Yunqiang Yang, Jianing Wu, Shaoze Yan, Zhigang Wu
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb229799 doi: 10.1242/jeb.229799 Published 24 September 2020
Lianhui Shi
1School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China
2School of Engineering and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China
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Susan W. Nicolson
3Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa
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Yunqiang Yang
2School of Engineering and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China
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Jianing Wu
1School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China
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  • For correspondence: wujn27@mail.sysu.edu.cn
Shaoze Yan
4Division of Intelligent and Biomechanical Systems, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
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Zhigang Wu
1School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China
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ABSTRACT

Optimal concentrations for nectar drinking are limited by the steep increase in the viscosity of sugar solutions with concentration. However, nectar viscosity is inversely related to temperature, which suggests there are advantages to foraging from flowers that are warmer than the surrounding air. The honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) dips nectar using a hairy tongue. However, the microscopic dynamics of the tongue while the bee ingests nectar of varying concentration, viscosity and temperature are unknown. In this study, we found that honey bees respond to the variation of nectar properties by regulating dipping frequency. Through high-speed imaging, we discovered that the honey bee traps warmer sucrose solutions with a quicker tongue. The honey bee dips the warmest and most dilute solution (40°C and 25% w/w sucrose) 1.57 times as fast as the coldest and thickest solution (20°C and 45% w/w sucrose). When the viscosity of different sucrose concentrations was kept constant by adding the inert polysaccharide Tylose, honey bees dipped nectar at constant frequency. We propose a fluid mechanism model to elucidate potential effects on sucrose intake and show that higher dipping frequency can increase the volumetric and energetic intake rates by 125% and 15%, respectively. Our findings broaden insights into how honey bees adapt to foraging constraints from the perspective of tongue dynamics, and demonstrate that elevated intrafloral temperatures and lower nectar viscosity can improve the volumetric and energetic intake rates of pollinators.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

  • Author contributions

    Methodology: L.S., S.W.N., J.W.; Software: L.S.; Investigation: S.W.N., J.W.; Resources: J.W., Z.W, S.Y.; Writing - original draft: J.W., L.S.; Writing - review & editing: S.W.N., J.W.; Visualization: S.Y.; Project administration: J.W, Y.Y, Z.W.

  • Funding

    This work was supported by the research grant of Sun Yat-Sen University for Bairen Plan (grant no. 76200-18841223), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51905556).

  • Supplementary information

    Supplementary information available online at https://jeb.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jeb.229799.supplemental

  • Received May 26, 2020.
  • Accepted July 24, 2020.
  • © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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Keywords

  • Pollinator
  • Apis mellifera
  • Temperature
  • Viscosity
  • Dipping frequency

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Research Article
Drinking made easier: honey bee tongues dip faster into warmer and/or less viscous artificial nectar
Lianhui Shi, Susan W. Nicolson, Yunqiang Yang, Jianing Wu, Shaoze Yan, Zhigang Wu
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb229799 doi: 10.1242/jeb.229799 Published 24 September 2020
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Research Article
Drinking made easier: honey bee tongues dip faster into warmer and/or less viscous artificial nectar
Lianhui Shi, Susan W. Nicolson, Yunqiang Yang, Jianing Wu, Shaoze Yan, Zhigang Wu
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb229799 doi: 10.1242/jeb.229799 Published 24 September 2020

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