Nutrition supports social insect colonies by regulating both individual performance and colony growth. In honey bee colonies, task-related behaviors such as nursing and foraging are partially mediated by nutrition. Young workers (nurses) consume almost all of the pollen in the hive, while foragers consume mostly nectar. Pollen provides vital proteins and lipids, consumed by nurse bees for approximately one week post eclosion. The role that lipids play in the physiology and behavior of adult bees is gaining significant attention. Recent research suggests that diets with balanced ratios of fatty acids increase olfactory learning in honey bees. Olfaction is crucial for young worker bees to perform brood care and cell cleaning behaviors, which is important for hive health and disease control. Thus, we targeted the early adult, pollen feeding stage to examine how fatty acids affect cognition to hive-relevant odors. We fed young workers (days 0-9) diets balanced or unbalanced in their ratio of essential fatty acids (ω-6:3) sourced from pollen or cooking oils. We then measured their ability to learn healthy and damaged brood odors, as well as their ability to discriminate between the two. Workers fed balanced diets could learn and discriminate between brood odors better than workers fed unbalanced diets. Consumption of both diet types decreased with age, but their cognitive effects remained. These results suggest that diet affects young worker cognitive development, which may affect task-related behaviors and colony hygiene.
Unbalanced fatty acid diets impair discrimination ability of honey bee workers to damaged and healthy brood odors
2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize shortlist and winner
The JEB Editors are delighted to announce the shortlisted authors for the 2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize. Read the winning paper - Tiny spies: mosquito antennae are sensitive sensors for eavesdropping on frog calls - by Hoover Pantoja-Sanchez and Brian Leavell from Ximena Bernal's lab at Purdue University, USA.
JEB Science Communication Workshop for ECRs
If you’re an early-career researcher interested in science communication and are attending the SEB Annual Conference in Prague this summer, come a day early and join the JEB Editors at a sci comm workshop to learn the key writing skills needed to promote your research to a broad audience beyond your peers (1 July at 14.30-17.30). Places are limited to 24 attendees, and applicants should apply through the SEB registration page by 30 April 2024.
Bridging the gap between controlled conditions and natural habitats in understanding behaviour
Novel technologies enable behavioural experiments with non-model species, in naturalistic habitats and with underexplored behaviours. In their Commentary, Scholz and colleagues discuss how to obtain a deeper understanding of the natural ecology and lifestyle of study animals.
Beluga metabolic measures could help save species
To help save animals from extinction, it’s important to understand what each species needs to survive. This led Jason John et al. to measure the metabolic rates of captive belugas to develop a ‘fish calculator’ showing that the whales need to eat ~23 salmon per day.
ECR Workshop on Positive Peer Review
Are you an ECR looking for tips on how to write concise, astute and useful manuscript reviews? If so, join the JEB Editors at a 2-hour JEB-sponsored Workshop on Positive Peer Review at the Canadian Society of Zoologists annual meeting in Moncton on 9 May 2024 at 13.00-15.00. There are 25 spaces for ECRs and selection is first come, first serve. To sign up, check the ECR Workshop box when you register for the CSZ meeting.
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