Itsuki Doi, Weibing Deng and Takashi Ikegami
URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-37785-8
Original Abstract: Social entrainment is important for functioning of beehive organization. By analyzing a dataset of approximately 1000 honeybees (Apis mellifera) tracked in 5 trials, we discovered that honeybees exhibit synchronized activity (bursting behavior) in their locomotion. These bursts occurred spontaneously, potentially as a result of intrinsic bee interactions. The empirical data and simulations demonstrate that physical contact is one of the mechanisms for these bursts. We found that a subset of honeybees within a hive which become active before the peak of each burst, and we refer to these bees as "pioneer bees." Pioneer bees are not selected randomly, but rather, are linked to foraging behavior and waggle dancing, which may help spread external information in the hive. By using transfer entropy, we found that information flows from pioneer bees to non-pioneer bees, which suggest that the bursting behavior is caused by foraging behavior and spreading the information through the hive and promoting integrated group behavior among individuals.
Summary (EN): Tracking ~1,000 honeybees across five trials revealed spontaneous synchronized bursts of locomotion, with physical contact identified as one driving mechanism. "Pioneer bees" active just before each burst are tied to foraging and waggle dancing; transfer entropy shows information flowing from pioneer to non-pioneer bees, suggesting bursts spread external information through the hive.
概要（日本語）: 約1,000匹のミツバチを5試行で追跡し、移動運動に同期的な「バースト（集団的活動の急増）」が自発的に生じることを発見。物理的接触がその一因であることをデータとシミュレーションで示す。各バースト直前に活動を始める「pioneer bees」を同定し、これらが採餌行動や尻振りダンスと結びつくこと、転移エントロピーによりpioneerから非pioneerへ情報が流れることを示す。
