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Entomology

Home-site fidelity in migratory honeybees

Abstract

Home-site fidelity is well known in migratory animals, but not in social insects. Here we show that colonies of the giant honeybee Apis dorsata are able to find the same nest location even after seasonal migration. As worker bees do not have first-hand knowledge of the old nest site, the swarms must be guided by some form of genetic mechanism.

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Correspondence to Peter Neumann.

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Neumann, P., Koeniger, N., Koeniger, G. et al. Home-site fidelity in migratory honeybees. Nature 406, 474–475 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35020193

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