Buzzing Repercussions: Busy Bees Require Sleep as Well

Abstract

In recent neurobehavioral research demonstrated that resting behavior in bees shares several common characteristics with sleep in vertebrates. As honeybees are the social insects, which perform the activities such as nest cleaning, foraging, pollination and waggle dance. To carry out these activities productively, they must have adequate sleep. However, some factors may cause disturbance in sleep which leads to sleep deprivation. Due of sleep deprivation, they may be less accurate in their waggle dances while directing others to food sources. The efficiency with which nestmates can forage and other ecological services would likely decline as honey bee communication declines, which could ultimately result in colony failure and decreased crop yield. This article explains bees sleep pattern, factors causing sleep deprivation and its consequences which can direct efforts to promote agricultural methods that are safe for honey bees, protecting these vital pollinators in agricultural system.