The interaction structure of a honeybee colony

The social organization in the honeybee colony is not only critical for colony functioning but is also potentially important for the spread of disease. Inter-individual interactions are primarily responsible for the flow of food, information and pathogens across the entire colony. The organization of the interaction structure of the colony is dependent on the proximate mechanism that predisposes certain individuals to interact with certain others, but it is not well understood. We hypothesized that the frequency with which individuals of different task groups interact with each other is based on the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of these groups and their olfactory sensitivity to them. Using a behavioral assay, we first demonstrate that bees of different task groups interact with each other in a nonrandom manner. Using electroantennogram recordings, we then go on to show that the frequency in which two task groups interact is correlated to their antennal sensitivity to the cuticular odor of each other. We discuss the proximate mechanism underlying the interaction structure in a colony in the context of host-parasite interaction and disease epidemiology in a social context.