Influence of sugar experience during development on gustatory sensitivity of the honey bee.

The level of response to sugar plays a role in many aspects of honey bee behavior including age dependent polyethism and division of labor. Bees may tune their sensitivity to sugars so that they maximize collection of high quality nectar, but they must also be able to collect from less profitable sources when high quality food is scarce. However, our understanding of the mechanisms by which bees can change their responsiveness to different sugars remains incomplete.