Effect of cold narcosis on foraging behavior of European honey bees (Apis mellifera ligustica) tracked using a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system

Abstract

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is both a commonly used method and a promising tool for investigating the foraging activities of bees. To prevent loss of electronic tags from individual bees, they must be immobilized long enough for adhesives to dry, but because narcosis can negatively affect bee health and behaviors, a very brief narcosis period is recommended. The present study assessed the impact of 30 min of cold narcosis, compared with carbon dioxide or no narcosis, on foraging activities using RFID monitoring. From each of three hives, 8 to 10 bees were placed in each of three narcosis treatments (n = 85), then tagged and monitored for homing success, activity after returning to the hive, and duration of flights outside the hive. Bees showed no significant differences in homing success and flight duration between cold narcosis treatment and the control (no narcosis), whereas bees narcotized by carbon dioxide showed significantly lower homing success and shorter flight duration than control bees. We conclude that for observing bee foraging behaviors using RFID systems, the effects of cold narcosis on ice for 30 min on foraging behaviors are acceptable, and cold narcosis is more practical for tagging many bees at once than physical immobilization using plunger cages.

Keywords:

• anesthesia
• chill-coma
• carbon dioxide narcosis
• ice chilling
• ultra-high-frequency tag

Acknowledgements

We thank Yoshinori Tokuoka and other project members for fruitful discussion and suggestions for the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest in relation to the research presented in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This research was partially supported by grants from the NARO Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution (Special Scheme Project on Vitalizing Management Entities of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).