ColonySumDataframe.csv from Manipulating nest architecture reveals three-dimensional building strategies and colony resilience in honeybees

Form follows function throughout the development of an organism. This principle should apply beyond the organism to the nests they build, but empirical studies are lacking. Honeybees provide a uniquely suited system to study nest form and function throughout development because we can image the three-dimensional structure repeatedly and non-destructively. Here, we tracked nest-wide comb growth in six colonies over 45 days (control colonies) and found that colonies have a stereotypical process of development that maintains a spheroid nest shape. To experimentally test if nest structure is important for colony function, we shuffled the nests of an additional six colonies, weekly rearranging the comb positions and orientations (shuffled colonies). Surprisingly, we found no differences between control and shuffled colonies in multiple colony performance metrics—worker population, comb area, hive weight and nest temperature. However, using predictive modelling to examine how workers allocate comb to expand their nests, we show that shuffled colonies compensate for these disruptions by accounting for the three-dimensional structure to reconnect their nest. This suggests that nest architecture is more flexible than previously thought, and that superorganisms have mechanisms to compensate for drastic architectural perturbations and maintain colony function.

在生物体的整个发育进程中，形式追随功能（Form follows function）。这一原则不仅应适用于生物体本身，也应延伸至其构筑的巢穴，但目前相关实证研究仍较为匮乏。蜜蜂是研究巢穴形态与功能随发育过程变化的绝佳模型系统，因为我们能够对其三维结构进行反复且无损的成像观测。本研究中，我们对6个对照组蜂群（control colonies）的全巢脾生长情况开展了为期45天的追踪监测，发现蜂群存在一套模式化的发育流程，可维持巢穴呈球形结构。为通过实验验证巢穴结构对蜂群功能是否至关重要，我们对另外6个蜂群的巢穴进行了打乱处理：每周重新排列巢脾的位置与朝向，即打乱组蜂群（shuffled colonies）。令人意外的是，我们在多项蜂群性能指标——工蜂种群数量、巢脾总面积、蜂箱重量及巢穴温度——中均未发现对照组与打乱组蜂群存在显著差异。不过，通过预测建模分析工蜂如何分配巢脾以拓展巢穴，我们发现打乱组蜂群会通过考量三维结构来重新连接巢穴，以此弥补结构被打乱带来的扰动。这表明巢穴架构比此前认知的更具灵活性，超有机体（superorganisms）具备应对剧烈结构扰动并维持蜂群功能的补偿机制。