Self-Organized Thermoregulation of Honeybee Clusters

A simple model is used to examine the role of movement and metabolism in the thermoregulation of a cluster of honeybees (A. mellifera mellifera). The thermoregulation is thought to be a result of individual bees attempting to regulate their own body temperatures between allowable limits. The bees respond to decreases in their immediate, or local, temperature by a combination of increased metabolic activity, and movements towards their neighbours. This is modelled by coupling a thermotaxis-diffusion equation for the cluster density to a heat equation with a temperature and density dependent source. It is assumed that the heat transfer within the cluster is dominated by conduction. The temperature profiles predicted by the model agree qualitatively with those observed. The model also predicts the density profiles within the cluster. These agree with qualitative observations in the literature.