The Interplay between Temperature Sensing and Learning among Honeybees

Tobin J. Hammer, Curtis Hata and James C. Nieh authored the research article Thermal learning in the honeybee, Apis mellifera, which was published in The Journal of Experimental Biology [212, 3928-3934 (2009)]. The study showed that honeybees can learn to associate temperature differences above and below ambient environmental temperatures with nectar rewards. Learning was enhanced when temperatures were warmer than the ambient norm as opposed to cooler. The rate was about twice as great when the temperature was 10C degrees above the norm as compared with 10C degrees below.

Researchers hypothesized that temperature sensory capabilities in honeybees could influence foraging decisions and could be a component involved in the exchange of information between nest mate honeybees.