Can bees tell time inquiry

1
Can bees tell time inquiry
What is adaptive advantage of an internal clock?
2
Hypothesis

• Bees cannot tell time

3
Protocol

• Test protocol Place a dish of 35 sugar water
  on a window sill, scent with peppermint oil.
  After bees find the dish remove it. Then return
  the dish to the window sill from 11 AM 12 PM
  each day. Remove dish at other times. Train
  bees for 1 week.

4
Data collection

• After 1 week of training, place an empty feed
  dish in the window sill at 8 AM
• Record bee visits to the dish for 15 minute
  intervals beginning at 8 AM and ending at 4 PM
• Have students repeat the experiment 3 times at
  different locations

5
Reporting findings

• Plot results as a histogram
• Ask students what the results suggest about their
  hypothesis
• Encourage students to speculate about how honey
  bees might benefit from a sense of time

6
Conclusions

• Bees have an internal clock that is tied to a 24
  hour circadian rhythm
• Bees can be trained to come to a feeder at the
  same time each day without external signals
• Bees cannot be trained to come to a feeder at 9
  hour intervals, or any other interval than 24
  hours