Bees sleep...

[BeeCurious]

When asked if bees sleep, I didn't have a good answer...

One can be found here:

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/211/18/3028

[MikeJ]

Why wouldn't bees sleep?
What doesn't sleep?

That said, books I have read say they do.

But again, why wouldn't they?

[BeeCurious]

I don't recall reading that bees sleep, and when asked about it my first reaction is to do a little research instead of simply replying "of course!"

A little google search will provide links to both answers.

A study that Thomas Selley was involved with is noteworthy in my opinion.

I believe there may be a number of things that rest but don't sleep.

[waynesgarden]

Thanks for posting that interesting study. I've occasionally heard that honey bees don't sleep. (I think it was by people prone to give their hives a whack at night and put an ear to the side.)

So it is clear that honey bees do sleep, but, perchance, to dream?

Wayne

[MikeJ]

I don't recall reading that bees sleep, and when asked about it my first reaction is to do a little research instead of simply replying "of course!"

A little google search will provide links to both answers.

A study that Thomas Selley was involved with is noteworthy in my opinion.

I believe there may be a number of things that rest but don't sleep.

Sorry if my answer seemed to be sharp - I did not mean for it to come across that way.
But I did recall reading that bees sleep so I did not need to research it.
Besides, since bees can't close their eyes only some study devised by men could try to prove if they are "resting" or "sleeping". And as is proven so often the test are very fallible and is easily interpreted as one wishes it to be.

My post was based on 2 things.
1) That I had read that bees sleep (though as I say this doesn't automatically make it so).
2) Whether people want to call it "rest" or "sleep" is subjective to their own views.

I see it as only logical that they sleep. All things rest (or sleep depending on the rules you set for sleep).

Again I didn't mean my post to come across as being sharp,
Mike

[USCBeeMan]

I have opened hives before without smoking and have seen bees head first in cells. It was evident that they were not moving nor was their abdomen pulsating but yet they appeared to be alive.

[MikeJ]

I have opened hives before without smoking and have seen bees head first in cells. It was evident that they were not moving nor was their abdomen pulsating but yet they appeared to be alive.

We had a OH over winter and saw the same. Also many bees in different positions that would not move for long periods and then become active.

[BeeCurious]

I don't recall reading that bees sleep,

I found "sleep" mentioned in my 1983 ABC/XYZ book... and it may be the only book of my collection that does.

I'd be interested in knowing which books cover the topic of bees sleeping.

[MikeJ]

Ted Hooper mentions it in passing in his Guide to Bees and Honey (1976).
It probably isn't mentioned much since I doubt even "scientists" care to waist to much time on it.

[peterloringborst]

Impossible to answer. Sleep in mammals generally is detected by closed eyes, which bees don't do. Inactive is more accurate.

published reports showing that approximately half of the bees in a colony at a given time are working while the rest are either inactive or patrolling, with a bias toward inactivity

A Self‐Organizing Model for Task Allocation via Frequent Task Quitting and Random Walks in the Honeybee
Brian R. Johnson