EXPERIMENTS DONE BY ZHENGWEI WANG AT THE MENGZI BEE INSTITUTE (SOUTH YUNNAN) Experiment 1. 15.6-16.9℃ Subject: 100 Apis mellifera workers This experiment was one of the repeat experiments, the results shows that not only A. cerana can form a cluster, Apis mellifera can do the same thing. Experiment 2. 16.3-16.9℃ Subjects: 200 Apis mellifera workers from two different colonies, 100 for each colony. We marked one colony with yellow paint. Bees can form clusters as the pictures showed. Experiment 3. 15.4-15.6℃ If small number of bees will form a cluster? Subjects: here we chose 52 Apis mellifera workers to see if these bees could form a cluster. The results showed that even 52 bees can form some small cluster. Experiment 4. 14.8-15.3℃ We try to put 50 Apis cerana workers and 52 Apis mellifera workers together to see if they will form a mixed-species cluster, for this experiment we haven’t got the positive result except some small groups with only 6-7 bees. However, we still can see different species bees will gather together. Experiment 5. 15.1-15.7℃ Here we used 100 Apis mellifera workers as subjects and try to put each bee in a square as the picture showed. And those bees can form a cluster, the whole cluster even move to the corner of the box. Experiment 6. 15.0-15.9℃ We try to cut down the number of bees we use, here we use 42 bees (and put down the bee like 6*7). At last the bees can form a cluster too. Experiment 7. 12.5-17.2℃ We try to repeat the mixed-species of two honeybee, but use more bees. 100 workers for each species. The results showed the high density will help to form some larger clusters more quickly. Experiment 8 is another repeat of experiment 7 and similar result. Experiment 9 and experiment 10, 17.4-17.9℃ These two trials we try to use 25 and 15 bees respectively, negative results. No cluster, or only 2-3 bees will gather together. Experiment 11. 17.7-18.0℃ We try to use 40 bees and we got positive results, the one of clusters even move to the top ceiling of the box. Experiment 12. 17.7-18.4℃ Influence of the age of the bees Here we try to choose young bees, and we try to choose those bees, which with more hair and more looks like young adults. So I should say this method is not that precisely but more depend on experience. We used 107 Apis mellifera young workers, and those bees can form a cluster, but also some problem raised, we use the same method last time we use to catch the bees, and it took more longer than usual and may be more vulnerable. Those bees won’t all wake up when the experiments last for a longer time. Experiment 13 is the repeat of experiment 4, and we got the similar result. 15.8-15.9℃ Experiment 14. 15.3-16.3℃ We haven’t try to use 100 workers to trap in one box to test the movements of the cluster, but try to use the queen for instead. The result is cheerful. Finally the bees form a huge cluster on the queen cages. We put 100 worker bees and the queen come from the same colony in the box, to see if those scatter bees will form a cluster, all even move to the queen cage. The results show as the pictures, they form a cluster. Experiments 15, 100 Apis cerana worker bees and their queen, 100 Apis mellifera worker bees and their own queen, so there are two hundred mixed-species workers and two queens inside the box, we want to see if those worker bees will contract by the queen and if the workers can discriminate which is their own queen. The results show that most A. cerana workers will surround the A. cerana queen cage, and on the cerana queen cage can also see some mellifera workers; but on the mellifera queen cage, we can see almost of the bees are mellifera workers but 2-3 cerana workers. Experiment 16 20.5-21.5℃ Here we want to see if the worker bees will contract by conspecific queen but not the same colony, so we put 100 mellifera worker bees ( from colony A) and a mellifera queen (from colony B) into the box, and then we observed that bees form a cluster on the queen cage too. Further study: 1. influence of the age of the bees. Here we may try to find out a way to collect young adults and won’t hurt bees too much. And at the beginning of the experiments, we first need to mark the bees when they are just emerged. For this procedure we can control the age of the bees more precisely, and collect the bees, three days after emerged, are as vulnerable as some young bees. 2. movement of the cluster here we used the queen, and we can try if use the worker bees may get similar results. And also try with some hot cups or other things to find out which will main factor. Notes: For the small square, the dimension is: 2cm * 2 cm And the box we used: 40cm * 32cm