Trophallaxis
Mouth-to-mouth transfer of food between bees, and the colony's main information channel as well as its distribution system.
Bees · also called food sharing
Definition
A returning forager passes her nectar to a house bee, who may pass it on again, and a substantial part of honey ripening happens during those exchanges. Trophallaxis also circulates queen pheromone through the colony and spreads information about the quality and quantity of incoming forage — which is how a colony without a manager allocates its workforce.
Where the word gets used loosely
Usually described as feeding. It is at least as much communication: the rate and eagerness of exchanges tell a forager whether her patch is worth returning to.
See also
Other bees terms
Sources
Sources
- The Biology of the Honey Bee — Harvard University Press (1987) · Textbook
- The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild — Princeton University Press (2019) · Monograph
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.