Never underestimate honeybees: Their exceptionally diverse adaptive strategies

As major pollinators in terrestrial ecosystems, honeybees are highly sensitive to environmental changes. To survive, they have evolved diverse adaptive strategies to cope with complex and fluctuating conditions. Considerable progress has been made in elucidating the mechanisms of these adaptations, which involve brain function, communication, division of labor, and sensory systems.

Although numerous studies have investigated honeybee environmental adaptation, most remain confined to isolated disciplinary perspectives. To date, no systematic review has comprehensively examined the multidimensional synergy network underlying honeybee adaptation. In this sense, an updated synthesis of honeybee adaptive strategies that incorporate different knowledge areas is still lacking. Our review aims to develop a global synthesis of diverse honeybee adaptive strategies, which encompass brain function, communication, division of labor and sensory systems. We highlight the structure, development, function, and regulatory factors of the brain and its pesticide response strategies, and summarize the classification, roles, and key regulatory factors involved in communication, division of labor, and sensory systems in honeybees. They do not function independently, and their synergy is central to the environmental adaptation of honeybees. Finally, we analyze current research limitations and propose future directions.

Brain function, communication, division of labor, sensory systems, and their synergistic interactions collectively underpin the adaptive strategies that enable honeybees to survive in complex environments. A comprehensive understanding of these molecular and structural mechanisms is essential to ensure honeybee fitness and to support resilience-oriented breeding programs.