What do foraging honeybees optimize?

Summary1.Foraging bees return to their hive with partially filled honey sack. We have re-evaluated previously published data and propose a mathematical model to describe the take-off crop load as a function of the flow rate v and the concentration c of sugar solution.2.The model has been derived on the basis of one set of experiments (Fig. 1). It describes the results of other investigations under quite different experimental conditions.3.We discuss, whether the bees' partial crop filling optimizes the relation between gained and consumed energy during foraging, or whether they are driven by an information demand which can be satisfied by returning to the hive with partially filled crop. The former is favoured by several authors seeking support for optimality theories in evolution.4.We arrive at the conclusion that all experimental results can satisfactorily be explained without the energy balance hypothesis.

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