Directional biases and individual differences in foraging strategies in Apis mellifera

Abstract

Brain lateralization affects behaviour in both vertebrates and invertebrates, with population-level lateralization being advantageous in some contexts (e.g. mating) and individual-level lateralization beneficial in others. However, the specific contexts where this occurs in some species remain underexplored. In foraging, individual lateralization may aid in resource distribution, reducing overlap. This study investigates whether honey bees, Apis mellifera, show directional biases during a foraging task in an artificial meadow and how this affects their trajectories and foraging efficiency. Twenty bees from four colonies foraged from 16 artificial flowers arranged in a 4 × 4 grid. We measured their overall directional biases in visiting (and revisiting) flowers and in the first flower choices over 16 trials. Moreover, we analysed foraging consistency and efficiency. An overall rightward population level was observed across trials. When analysing only the first flower choices, seven bees showed significant lateral biases (three favouring right and four left). Foraging efficiency, measured by time and trajectories, showed no clear pattern; only two lateralized individuals showed faster times and more consistent paths than nonlateralized bees. The results suggest that individual lateralization may not significantly impact foraging efficiency but could be advantageous for colony resource distribution. For all bees, whether lateralized or not, there was a strong correlation between trajectory similarity and foraging time: the more consistent the paths, the quicker the foraging. This study highlights lateralization in honey bees as a dynamic, context-dependent trait, potentially offering varying advantages depending on the task.