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Published on: September 4, 2016
Displaced honey bees perform optimal scale-free search flights
Andrew M Reynolds1, Alan D Smith, Randolf Menzel
1Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshir, United Kingdom. andy.reynolds@bbsrc.ac.uk
Ecology
|September 11, 2007
Summary
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) use an optimal search strategy when lost, flying in scale-free Lévy movements. This Lévy flight pattern, with no preferred direction, efficiently guides them back to their hive.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Navigation and orientation
- Ecology
Background:
- Honey bees (Apis mellifera) navigate using compass-directed flights and landmarks.
- When these mechanisms fail, bees employ an unknown searching strategy to find their hive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature and efficiency of honey bee hive searching strategies.
- To determine if honey bees utilize an optimal search pattern when disoriented.
Main Methods:
- Harmonic radar was used to record honey bee flight paths during hive searching.
- Flight path data were analyzed to identify movement patterns and characteristics.
Main Results:
- Honey bee searching flights consist of straight line segments.
- These segments follow a scale-free Lévy distribution with an inverse-square-law tail.
- The 'no preferred direction' characteristic indicates an optimal search strategy.
Conclusions:
- Honey bees exhibit an optimal, scale-free searching strategy when navigating back to their hive.
- The observed Lévy movements represent the best-reported example of an optimal search pattern in animals.
