I decided to combine a few days into one as basically we are intensely into doing research now. So I will try to explain the 2 lines of work as best I can. A few things first. Happy birthay (July 1) Canada, my native country. Happy birthday to our REU Josh, that is tomorrow (Sunday). It is so easy to lose track of dates and days as we work everyday from around 7 am to 6 or 7 pm. We are all help clean up the Bee institute as teams with the Turkish students, who by the way are great young people, very helpful. Yesterday (July 1) a crew from a Farmer TV show came to the Bee Institute and collected interviews and took video of the American research and the work in general that is done here. It will not be shown until the winter probably, so I will not be famous in Turkey. Our big thrill is taking the one Lira van into Gorukle, about a 20 minute drive. Oh some advice do not, if you do not speak Turkish stand or site near the front of this 20 person Van (I have counted 35 in one trip though). People start handing their 1 Lira payment to the front to give to the driver. They started speaking to me in Turkish to get change and I am paying for my girlfriend and mother etc. Quite embarassing. Maria and I had to got into town to buy 2 fans. Well the electricity was out so we had to shop with flashlights. Luckily there was a nice women, a high school language teacher who helped me with the purchase. People here are amazingly friendly and quick to laugh in a good way. There are 2 lines of experiments one, which I am involved in and is simply fascinating is conditioning bees, or learning in bees. The other is odor and color preference in bees out doors
Learning in bees.
First experiment was to have the bee smell either cinnamon or Alcohol followed immediately by a reward of concentrated sugar solution. They stick out their proboscis to obtain the food. Eventually in most cases the bee learns to associate the odor of cinnamon and alcohol with the sugar. If learning has occurred it will stick out its probosics when it smells the odors. There are many controls set up for this experiment that Dr. Abramson has set up. After the bees have gone through the trials to learn, an extinction phase begins. That is they get the smell but no reward.
What happens if the learning had taken place is that they will eventually lose association connection of the odor and reward and they stop extending their probosics if no reward is presented. Today (July 2) we did another set of experiments that really hit home. That is discrimination tests. In other words, if the bees are really learning to tell that a specific odor is associated with a reward and learning is paired with that odor only. for example I trained a group of bees to associate alcohol (conditioned stimulus +) with a reward. Eventually they learned to extend their proboscis when smelling alchol. During the same trial in a very organized manner, being presented with cinnamon (CS -) which meant that cinnamon was not accompanied by a sugar reward. In the same set of bees they learned only to respond to alcohol by extending its proboscis but not for cinnamon.
The outdoor color ordor experiment is quite interesting. Through a long process a specific bee is chosen that in the field has been trained to come to an artifical flower. This is a round piece of plexiglass with a round color in the center (see picture). In the middle of the "flower" where the color is a small amount of scented sugar liquid is placed, simulated floral nectar reward. The bee is marked with paint. It will go to one flower to the other, getting an award on a flower with a specific color. In other words, for example, the bee is taught to associate blue with a nectar award. Then a dividing board is placed in the middle of a platform (see picture) 2 flowers on each side. The students train the bee to go from one side to the other looking for its sugar reward on a flower with a specific color. Remember there are many trials and the marked bee usually will go back to the hive with the nectar and return to the exact fake flowers, This is a very cool think in my opinion and fascinating to watch. Eventually, after the bee has been completely trained the students do a switch. They put a salt solution (not something the bee likes) on the flower that the bee was trained to go to before when it had sugar on it. The bee now goes to the color of flower that had the reward on it but now there is no reward. The bee flies back to the other side of the platform award the barrier and the same thing on the other side. So what I know so far (experiments in progress), is the bee gets confused. They have a very very strong odor sense with the visual. Some bees seem to get frustrated, wanting to go back to the flower with the color they prefer, but the salt prevents that. Some will switch color and go for the sugar reward on a flower with a different color, but some will not switch and will the sugar reward. They get frustrated and leave.
The outdoor color ordor experiment is quite interesting. Through a long process a specific bee is chosen that in the field has been trained to come to an artifical flower. This is a round piece of plexiglass with a round color in the center (see picture). In the middle of the "flower" where the color is a small amount of scented sugar liquid is placed, simulated floral nectar reward. The bee is marked with paint. It will go to one flower to the other, getting an award on a flower with a specific color. In other words, for example, the bee is taught to associate blue with a nectar award. Then a dividing board is placed in the middle of a platform (see picture) 2 flowers on each side. The students train the bee to go from one side to the other looking for its sugar reward on a flower with a specific color. Remember there are many trials and the marked bee usually will go back to the hive with the nectar and return to the exact fake flowers, This is a very cool think in my opinion and fascinating to watch. Eventually, after the bee has been completely trained the students do a switch. They put a salt solution (not something the bee likes) on the flower that the bee was trained to go to before when it had sugar on it. The bee now goes to the color of flower that had the reward on it but now there is no reward. The bee flies back to the other side of the platform award the barrier and the same thing on the other side. So what I know so far (experiments in progress), is the bee gets confused. They have a very very strong odor sense with the visual. Some bees seem to get frustrated, wanting to go back to the flower with the color they prefer, but the salt prevents that. Some will switch color and go for the sugar reward on a flower with a different color, but some will not switch and will the sugar reward. They get frustrated and leave.
Just got back helping with putting in new queen hives shaking bees only 3 stings. Keeps you humble
Students observing and training bees to a fake flower with a sugar reward
An identifiable bee marked with paint for the experiment
Bees are trainted to take sugar from a specific color fake flower and go around barrier for
the same on the other side
Filling the pipette to add more sugar onto the flowee
Long hours of observing by the very dedicated REU's
TV Turkish Style
Dr. Harrington Wells (middle) with Ibrahim Cacmak being interviewed
That is a wrap
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