preference. Experiment 1 tested these two predictions. In addition, by comparing the preference of stimuli occupied by another bee with the preference of stimuli occupied by non-organic objects (a coin, as in Dawson and Chittka (2012), and a piece of Styrofoam), we could begin to address the question of whether any preference for occupied stimuli was indeed social. Aggressive tendencies ought to be directed at other individuals and not at flowers themselves. Heightening an aggressive tendency ought not to increase a preference for a pattern that is more than another. To determine whether the effects of our variables were “floral” specific to social preferences, Experiment 2 examined their effects on preference of floral patterns with no occupiers. Given that radial patterns (illustrated in the legend of Figure 3) are, by and large, preferred over concentric patterns (Orbán & Plowright, 2013) as they are thought to resemble flowers in nature (Lehrer, Horridge, Zhang & Gadagkar, 1995), we examined the effect of food deprivation and CO2 exposure on relative choice of these patterns. Food deprivation ought, if anything, to increase preference for radial patterns, while CO2 should not. Given that larger bumblebees tend to invest themselves in foraging duties while smaller bees tend to the nest (Goulson, 2010), though task specialization is not as marked as in honeybees, we reasoned that the effect of food deprivation might interact with body mass. Methods Subjects Three commercial colonies of Cresson in plastic nest boxes (19.5 cm Bombus impatiens X 17.5 cm X 12 cm high) were supplied by Koppert Canada. The colonies were covered with
preference. Experiment 1 tested these two predictions. In addition, by comparing the preference of stimuli occupied by another bee with the preference of stimuli occupied by non-organic objects (a coin, as in Dawson and Chittka (2012), and a piece of Styrofoam), we could begin to address the question of whether any preference for occupied stimuli was indeed social. Aggressive tendencies ought to be directed at other individuals and not at flowers themselves. Heightening an aggressive tendency ought not to increase a preference for a pattern that is more “floral” than another. To determine whether the effects of our variables were specific to social preferences, Experiment 2 examined their effects on preference of floral patterns with no occupiers. Given that radial patterns (illustrated in the legend of Figure 3) are, by and large, preferred over concentric patterns (Orbán & Plowright, 2013) as they are thought to resemble flowers in nature (Lehrer, Horridge, Zhang & Gadagkar, 1995), we examined the effect of food deprivation and CO2 exposure on relative choice of these patterns. Food deprivation ought, if anything, to increase preference for radial patterns, while CO2 should not. Given that larger bumblebees tend to invest themselves in foraging duties while smaller bees tend to the nest (Goulson, 2010), though task specialization is not as marked as in honeybees, we reasoned that the effect of food deprivation might interact with body mass. Methods Subjects Three commercial colonies of Bombus impatiens Cresson in plastic nest boxes (19.5 cm X 17.5 cm X 12 cm high) were supplied by Koppert Canada. The colonies were covered with
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