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Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees

Journal of Comparative Physiology APublished 1 September 1995
Martín Giurfa, J. N��ez, Lars Chıttka, Randolf Menzel
Citations377
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score0.64
SNIP1.00

TL;DR

Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees Apis mellifera L. flying in an enclosure were tested for their colour preferences and were strongly correlated with flower colour and its associated nectar reward, as measured in 154 flower species.

Abstract

Flower-naive honeybees Apis mellifera L. flying in an enclosure were tested for their colour preferences. Bees were rewarded once on an achromatic (grey, aluminium or hardboard), or on a chromatic (ultraviolet) disk. Since naive bees never alighted on colour stimuli alone, a scent was given in combination with colour. Their landings on twelve colour stimuli were recorded. Results after one reward (“first test”) were analysed separately from those obtained after few rewards (“late tests”).

Keywords

Agricultural and Biological SciencesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology