RunModels.ipynb 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.

生物体发育过程中普遍遵循“形式追随功能”的核心原则。该原则本应同样适用于生物体所构筑的巢穴，但目前相关实证研究仍较为匮乏。蜜蜂为研究发育进程中的巢穴形态与功能关联提供了极具适配性的研究体系——我们可对其三维结构进行重复性、非破坏性的成像观测。本研究对6个对照组蜂群的全巢巢脾生长动态开展了为期45天的追踪监测，结果显示蜂群具备一套定型的发育流程，可稳定维持巢体的球形结构。为实验验证巢穴结构对蜂群功能的重要性，我们对另外6个蜂群的巢穴实施了结构扰动：每周重新调整巢脾的位置与朝向，此类蜂群被称为扰动组（shuffled colonies）。令人意外的是，在工蜂种群规模、巢脾总面积、蜂箱重量及巢内温度等多项蜂群性能指标上，对照组与扰动组蜂群均未呈现显著差异。不过，通过预测建模分析工蜂分配巢脾以拓展巢穴的机制，我们发现扰动组蜂群可通过识别三维结构重新连接巢穴，以此弥补结构扰动带来的负面影响。这表明巢穴架构的灵活性远超此前认知，超个体（superorganisms）具备应对剧烈架构扰动并维持蜂群功能的补偿机制。