The Foraging Process in Nature
A colony of honey bees can extend itself over long distances (up to 14 km) and in multiple directions simultaneously to exploit a large number of food sources. A colony prospers by deploying its foragers to good fields. In principle, flower patches with plentiful amounts of nectar or pollen that can be collected with less effort should be visited by more bees, whereas patches with less nectar or pollen should receive fewer bees.
The foraging process begins in a colony by scout bees being sent to search for promising flower patches. Scout bees move randomly from one patch to another. During the harvesting season, a colony continues its exploration, keeping a percentage of the population as scout bees.
When they return to the hive, those scout bees that found a patch which is rated above a certain quality threshold (measured as a combination of some constituents, such as sugar content) deposit their nectar or pollen and go to the “dance floor” to perform a dance known as the waggle dance.
This dance is essential for colony communication, and contains three pieces of information regarding a flower patch: the direction in which it will be found, its distance from the hive and its quality rating (or fitness). This information helps the colony to send its bees to flower patches precisely, without using guides or maps. Each individual’s knowledge of the outside environment is gleaned solely from the waggle dance. This dance enables the colony to evaluate the relative merit of different patches according to both the quality of the food they provide and the amount of energy needed to harvest it. After waggle dancing inside the hive, the dancer (i.e. the scout bee) goes back to the flower patch with follower bees that were waiting inside the hive. More follower bees are sent to more promising patches. This allows the colony to gather food quickly and efficiently.
While harvesting from a patch, the bees monitor its food level. This is necessary to decide upon the next waggle dance when they return to the hive. If the patch is still good enough as a food source, then it will be advertised in the waggle dance and more bees will be recruited to that source.
Read more about this topic: Bees Algorithm
Famous quotes containing the words foraging, process and/or nature:
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