sleeping bees ?

[Dr. B in Wisconsin]

My wife asked me if bees sleep, I told her I did not know. One of lifes more important questions, do they ??
Thanks

[AllenF]

Yes, indeed, bees "sleep". Though there is always a lot of activity in a bee hive, mostly in the brood area where the queen is laying eggs, it is possible to observe worker bees around the edges of the comb and on the side walls that are resting and quiet. Research done as recently as 1988 showed that bees at rest exhibit some of the same characteristics as humans in a sleep period: they don't move around, they don't react to stimuli very readily, their muscles relax, and their body temperature drops. So, while the buzzing in the hive is probably not snoring, research concludes that bees do sleep. (Reference: Southwick, E. E. "Bee sleep". American Bee Journal 131:165-166, 1991)

[Dr. B in Wisconsin]

The boss says thanks for the info. :)

[AllenF]

She who must be obeyed.

[JP]

I have observed bees at rest many times during cut outs. Ones just sitting their motionless, until you touch them, and they come to.


...JP

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/huber.htm#beesinrepose

When the workers penetrate the cells, and remain fifteen or twenty minutes motionless, I have reason to believe, it is to repose from their labours. My observations on the subject seem correct. You know, Sir, that a kind of irregular shaped cells, are frequently constructed on the panes of the hive. These, being glass on one side, are exceedingly convenient to the observe, since all that passes within is exposed. I have often seen bees enter these cells when nothing could attract them. The cells contained neither eggs nor honey, nor did they need further completion. Therefore the workers repaired thither only to enjoy some moments of repose. Indeed, they were fifteen or twenty minutes so perfectly motionless, that had not the dilation of the rings, shewed their respiration, we might have concluded them dead. The queen also sometimes penetrates the cells of the males, and continues very long motionless in them. Her position prevents the bees from paying their full homage to her, yet even then the workers do not fail to form a circle around her and brush the part of her belly that remains exposed. "--François Huber, New Observations on the Natural History Of Bees 4 September 1791