# More ... > Beekeeper education >  2012: Module 6

## Neils

Soo, anyone else contemplating Module 6 (Honey Bee Behaviour) in the autumn?

And in time honoured forum fashion, anyone particularly recommend any books/resources in particular in preparing for this one?

----------


## Neils

Here's a link to the syllabus at least:

module 6 syllabus

I had a vague notion that this one might be reasonably straightforward but reading through that it's clear there's a lot of stuff I simply don't know at the moment.

If anyone else is considering taking it do you fancy turning this into a discussion to work through the syllabus? Share what we think we know, link some further reading, that kind of thing?

[edit] Just a note for anyone wandering by from south of the border, I believe all of the National Associations (SBA, WBKA BBKA) use the same syllabus.

----------


## drumgerry

Sorry mate I'm about a year off trying for mod 6 if things go to plan.  Aiming for Mod 3 in November.  Surely someone else on the forum is giving 6 a go?

----------


## Neils

Get your revision in early  :Big Grin: 

Start one for module 3, go on  :Smile: 

I might do it anyway on the basis that even those not doing the modules might fancy chipping in.

----------


## Neils

fairly broad article on mating lots of references to what it's citing though which might come in handy.

Less about behaviour directly and not for the faint of heart: http://www.genetics.org/content/91/3/609.full.pdf. That's what you get when you search for a concise definition of self-incompatibility in honeybees, seems to be a term more in use for plants, but there you go. As a side benefit I'm learning at lot about pollination as well  :Smile: 

Evolution of multiple mating behaviour by honey bee quuens. Again, probably more useful for when you want to punish your brain, but also has some useful information on swarming.

Basic worker policing overview

Worker policing persists in a hopelessly queenless honey bee colony

Worker reproduction and worker policing

----------


## drumgerry

I might just do that once the level of beekeeping hecticness slows down a bit for me!  I started studying for Mods 1 and 2 in January so by that reckoning I could get away with starting work for 3 in August sometime.  I'd like to take it all at my leisure and study slowly over a longer period of time so I might take the odd casual look at the materials between now and then.

----------


## Neils

No excuse after a season of IPM refinement, finish you end of season treatments and into the exam  :Wink:

----------


## Neils

slides about pheromones, fairly high level but also covers queen, worker and brood pheromones.

primer effects of a brood pheromone on honeybee behavioural development not actually read this one yet.

----------


## prakel

Nellie, you've put up some great links in this thread (even for someone who's not doing exams) -got to admit this is the first time that I've actually bothered to read through the posts, glad I did now! Thanks.

----------


## Neils

Glad you're finding them useful, I just throwing terms based on the syllabus into google and seeing what sticks at the moment. If I find them interesting or think they might come in handy then I'm linking them into here, after that I'll try and sort this thread out a bit better in terms of organisation.

In truth I think some of these studies, especially the ones with the scary maths might be more useful as background information as they perhaps look a bit deeper than might be expected for the modules.

Wanting to sit the exam itself is no pre-requisite for taking part in thread, so if youre finding it useful or want to link to something please feel free to chip in.

I'm going all out to aim for a distinction on this paper, I let myself down on module 3 by scraping a pass so no apologies for linking to the scary maths  :Big Grin:

----------


## Neils

Trophallaxis (there seems to be some 



Photos Of Trophallaxis in action

Changes In The Thoracic Temperature Of Honeybees While Receiving Nectar From Foragers Collecting At Different Reward Rates (you didn't think it would take this long did you?)

Protein trophallaxis and the regulation of pollen foraging by honey bees

Honeybee, Apis mellifera, round dance is influenced by trace components of floral nectar

Just for Doris, this one caught my eye, but I can't get the whole study:




> It is claimed that Perizin, a pesticide to control the mite Varroa jacobsoni, acts systemically and is distributed by trophallaxis of the bees. We studied the role of trophallactic interactions in the distribution of coumaphos, the active ingredient, among the colony members and whether coumaphos can reach all mites by systemic activity. Colonies were divided into three compartments by a screen, one receiving a Perizin treatment by sprinkling, the others receiving no Perizin. In this way it was possible to trace the amount of coumaphos transferred between bees through the screen from the treated part to the untreated one by trophallaxis. After different periods of time the number of fallen mites was counted and the amount of coumaphos in bees was determined for all hive compartments. We found that trophallactic interactions are of minor importance in the distribution of Perizin between the two compartments. The recommended method of sprinkling Perizin over the bees was shown to be very inefficient; only 24% of the applied amount reaches the alimentary canal of the bees; the rest must therefore remain at other places: on the outside of the bees, in the combs and on the hive-parts.


Olfactory learning by means of trophallaxis in Apis mellifera

----------


## Neils

Bee/Waggle Dance and DorsoVentral Abdominal Vibration (DVAV)

Honeybee, Apis mellifera, round dance is influenced by trace components of floral nectar This is also linked in the Trophallaxis section because a forum isn't great for organising links.

Deciding to learn: modulation of learning flights in honeybees,
Apis mellifera

DVAV in Action

----------


## Neils

For no other reason than I've been at this all night after 18 hours of software testing and my head hurts:

They aren't that smart:



Though if you do want to try and make a serious point about it, what can you work out from the flight of the incoming/outgoing bees?

----------


## Neils

Guard Bee Behaviour (6.8)

Honeybee nestmate recognition: the thermal behaviour of guards and their examinees

----------


## Neils

Foraging: 6.7 the behaviour of the foraging bee and its work methods in the field including orientation;

Long-distance pollen flow assessment through evaluation of pollinator foraging range suggests transgene escape distances

distance estimation by foraging honeybees

----------


## Neils

Even I get bored of studies eventually  :Big Grin: 

How to Make a Pound of Honey

----------


## Neils

I'm committed, the form and cheque is in the post! For a subject I thought I knew a reasonable amount about, I'm a little concerned, I thought module 5 was too difficult.

----------


## Neils

I have a lot of the past BBKA papers in my possession. I'll look at them in more detail over the next few days but if there is one thing that leaps out at me at the moment is the number of times big mark questions around swarming crops up. What causes it, how it develops from initiation to settling a new 'home' and so on.

Sacbrood also seems to crop up a lot.

----------


## Neils

Go on then, I'm stuck on the first part of this question:




> Some flowers have "lines" on their petals . What are they called and what is the significance of these lines with regard to foraging behaviour?


I have no idea what the lines are called and my google-fu has let me down.

----------


## Bumble

I haven't done any modules, but I can't imagine the answer changes depending on scientific discipline.

The lines are nectar guides.

The theory is that bees see the UV spectrum, so see flowers differently from us. The lines show up more clearly to bees, and presumably other pollinating insects, and guide them towards the nectary.

Some pictures showing 'normal', UV and IR flowers on this site http://www.naturfotograf.com/UV_flowers_list.html

Is this any use to you? http://blog.mbbka.org.uk/category/ed...bbka-module-6/

----------


## Neils

Thanks Bumble, I knew what they were, I just couldn't find a name for them, there I was trying to find something all fancy in Latin or Greek and it's plain English and under my nose all along.

I'm trying to resist using the mid bucks guides for now, there are some changes to the syllabus for 2012 that seem to be missing and while I like using it as a revision aid I also like to find the information for myself if I can.

----------


## thada1

Hi Nellie
I found your posts/thread via the magic of google (whilst looking for some guidance about marking of papers).  It's good to find a thread on mod6, even tho' its getting a bit late in the day to be revising for the exam next week.  

You might be interested in this link - examiners comments on a candidate for 2011's mod6. 

I was very happy to find this American biologists website - he puts much of the contemporary view on primer pheromones into nice order, which is hard to do from the primary literature, if it's just a hobby!  Warning though - it might turn your revision schedule on its head, as it's well written and detailed.

I do wonder though whether the examiners are interested in the contemporisation of understanding.  There's a lot of reference to Morse and Hooper in the examiners' comments - a 28 yr book that costs >£50, when for the same price I got Honeybee Democracy and the Buzz about Bees!

Perhaps I'm just getting worried that I won't get a good mark in the exam.

----------


## Neils

Hi Thada,

The point about the mid bucks' guides is that they're for the 2011 syllabus/correspondence course. The question about nectar guides isn't in it. They're still good notes and hence why I use them for revision because the major stuff it does cover is very well done.

I can't speak for the BBKA but we do have people in our association who have and are involved in the BBKA education and I've certainly always been under the impression that if you can justify your answer by reference to more contemporary material that it would be given due consideration. Quoting Seeley or Tautz I doubt would be seen as controversial.

I'll check out the links and thanks, I'm sure they'll swiftly be added to my links. My revision "schedule" is fairly loose, I just work through the syllabus more or less point by point and find as much stuff out about it that I can.

----------


## thada1

I'm using the midbucks notes as the basis for my revision notes too.  In some parts of the syllabus there doesn't seem much to add  - and in other areas I've scribbled lots of additions.  I'm treating myself to a couple of days at the national honey show  at the weekend.  I'll get to hear from Margaret Coullivon whether it still makes sense to talk about round, sickle and waggle dances. And what constitutes hygienic behaviour from Marla Spivak even though that seems not to be in syllabus - but interesting all the same.

----------


## Neils

I'd say Margaret Couvillon is worth listening to in the context of module 6 for sure  :Smile:  I spotted a workshop being run at LASI a little while ago and took myself of there to have a look, very interesting to put it mildly.

"This American biologist" is Randy Oliver, I think it would be safe to say that many on this forum are familiar with his site  :Big Grin:

----------


## Bumble

> Thanks Bumble, I knew what they were, I just couldn't find a name for them, there I was trying to find something all fancy in Latin or Greek and it's plain English and under my nose all along.


When you're used to dealing with more complex terminology it's easy to forget the names that hide themselves in plain sight.  :Smile:

----------


## Neils

Now I've had a chance to read it, that feedback paper is very useful. I've not asked for feedback on any of my papers before but I think that's a handy pointer towards the level if detail you need to go into for what sounds like a solid pass.

As the owner of the paper's comment about remembering the chemical names(?) came to mind I had a look at it and here's a method that helped me.  disclaimer, I'm not a chemist so apologies to any who are if I stamp all over the proper way of doing things:

Sucrose is: 
C12 H22 O11  <--- remember this bit.

To invert it, you need Water: 
H2 O
And a catalyst (Invertase, Sucrase, lemon juice, tartaric acid, heat or lots of time)
If wikipedia is to be believed Invertase and Sucrase are not the same thing, they act in a similar manner but split the link between the fructose and glucose differently.

Add the water and the sucrose, which gives you
C12 (H22 + H2) (O23 + O)  ie C12 H24 O12

Divide that by two for 
Glucose
C6 H12 O6

And Fructose
C6 H12 O6  <-- or remember this one and work backwards, ie double it, remove water and you're left with sucrose.

----------


## thada1

No point in asking me Nellie - I'm a chemist, so what works for me is likely to be gobbledygook for you!!  The important bit is the molecule of water that is used to split sucrose into F+G.  Thanks for the recommendation about Margaret Couvillon - I couldn't see her lecture at the National Honey Show, but for the price of a cup of coffee, she gave me a lot of her time explaining the waggle dance, and how von Frisch got the distance calibration (a little bit) wrong.  And Keith Delaplane was awesome (said in faux American accent).  As a result, I came home and straightaway read key bits of Holldobler and Wilson's "The Superorganism". They really nail honeybee communication in just a few pages.

----------


## Black Comb

Neil
These are mod 2 questions.
Nice if they repeat them in mod 6.
Have you taken mod 2 yet?

----------


## Neils

Not yet, that's in march for me.  There are some odd subjects covered in mod 6 so it doesn't surprise me to hear that there's a fair degree of overlap with module 2.

----------


## Neils

Well then it's waiting time.

I don't think it was too bad but I am now panicking that the vagueness of the wording around the section C question on foraging behaviour meant that I spent too much time detailing things they weren't actually looking for.

----------


## thada1

Q16 was a real invite to discuss anything you know about foraging.  I was enjoying myself so much rabbiting on about waggle dances and dance floors, that I didn't leave enough time to write about the uses of pollen. Duh - schoolboy error.  I even had written a timeplan to make sure I started the long question in time!  It's so tempting to do section ABC in order; next time I should consider doing C before B.  Really cross with myself.

----------


## Neils

Thada,

Sounds like we interpreted that question the same way. Part b around pollen I did wonder about where some of the marks will come from but it sounds like we took a similar opinion around the requirements of part A. I'm just worried that I wrote three sides of A4 about something other than what they were asking  :Smile:

----------


## Easy beesy

Where it said dont include pollen packing - how many took that to mean packing into/onto corbicula and how many took it to mean packing into cell?  And which interpretation was correct do you think?

----------


## Neils

I took it to mean the corbicula and interpreted the question hence to be about the behaviour around foraging rather than the behaviour of a bee on an individual plant so covered everything from forager recruitment to returning to the hive. So I'm hoping my interpretation was the right one, otherwise I've failed  :Smile:

----------


## Easy beesy

I presumed that it meant the actions of one forager from leaving hive to returning and dropping load.  Just didn't cover the action of a. n. other bee packing it into cell. 
Rather ambiguous question.

----------


## Neils

On the plus side I think most people interpreted it to mean that but a few people took a slightly different slant on what they're asking.

I covered from forager recruitment, bits about the dancefloor, bee dances and flight to the forage, not much about the nuts and bolts if actually collecting pollen and/or nectar but a fair bit about pheromone marking if flowers but started to run out of time so probably didn't go into enough detail around what happens when a nectar loaded forager returns to the hive other than stating pollen carriers unload themselves and nectar carriers are unloaded by house bees.

----------


## Easy beesy

That's me screwed - I only covered from leaving hive - navigation etc. didn't mention recruitment and dancing.

----------


## Neils

Well I think that's why it was a badly phrased question. I've no idea if they wanted my answer or yours and you're certainly not the only one who interpreted the question that way and I was not as indepth in my essay around the areas that you covered as a result. We'll find out in a couple of weeks I guess.

----------


## thada1

well, if we don't get what we want, then it would be fun to get the examiner's feedback (like Emily Heath did) and post all the information - hopefully just in time for a re-sit in March 2013!

----------


## Neils

Indeed. If I don't pass it I will do just to see if the feedback confirms my suspicions of what I didn't cover in enough detail.  I know two of the section B questions i didn't do that well in and was casting the net for marks to some extent. I only skipped the graph around colony makeup because I messed up the graph and only had black pens on me so couldn't clearly correct it. That said, when I considered that one I wasn't sure how I'd get 15 marks out if it.

----------


## masterbk

quote : Well I think that's why it was a badly phrased question. I've no idea if they wanted my answer or yours
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All though I did not set this paper, I have been involved in the past in the setting/marking of module papers.
Section B questions are structured to elicit a set series of facts in your answers in note form but section C questions are designed to be more open ended and phrased in a less specific way to encourage you to produce an extended piece of writing ie  an essay rather than simply regurgitating rote memory stuff. It is up to the candidate to select the subtopics and the order in which they wish to present them , backing any discussions, arguments or deliberations with facts. It is all about communication of ideas and facts in a logical order The marking scheme will take into account different interpretations of the questions by the candidates.

----------


## Black Comb

Having taken a few of these modules now I am of the opinion that 1.5 hours is not long enough. 
2 hours would give a more comprehensive test and perhaps allow those of us with arthritic fingers a little respite.

----------


## Neils

Masterbk, thanks for the insight, I think that gives a bit more confidence that whatever approach people took wouldn't necessarily be regarded as "wrong". Even so I still feel that for for the topic it was a vaguely worded question given the range of interpretations people have about what was wanted.

As for the time, 1.5 hours seemed fine for modules 1 and 2 but I'd have been happier with 2 hours for this one

----------


## Mellifera Crofter

I can't remember the wording of the questions or what sections or numbers they were - but like you (Nellie and the others) I do remember feeling confused by the wording of the foraging question.

The length of time is fine, I think.  What did bother me was that there was nowhere to make personal notes.  I need a place to make notes so that I can structure my thoughts.  Just launching into an answer meant I probably waffled a lot, forgot things, and might have been even more incoherent than usual.

The other thing that bothered me was that I had great difficulty in finding the examination house and so arrived ten minutes late.  By that time I was in a flap and really anxious.  I wasn't the only one who had this problem.  A map supplied beforehand would have helped.

Kitta

----------


## Easy beesy

You can use as much paper as you wish - you just have to hand it in at the end. I wrote my notes on a page then put a line through it and stated at the beginning that they were rough notes, not to be included in the exam answer.

----------


## Mellifera Crofter

Thanks EB - will do that next time.
Kitta

----------


## Black Comb

I'm planning to take Mod. 6 in March.
Looking through past papers I see there is nearly always a major question re. swarming, usually a 30 pointer.
I have all of the recommended books, but nearly all major on communication, dance, foraging etc.
Which one did you find most useful to give the required knowledge on swarming?

----------


## Mellifera Crofter

> ... Which one did you find most useful to give the required knowledge on swarming?


I don't know about the 'most useful' book, but I think Thomas Sealey's 'Honeybee Democracy' is worth looking at.  I couldn't read the entire book in time for the exam, but I read some sections which I thought were helpful and very interesting.
Kitta

----------


## Neils

Jurgen Tautz's 'buzz about bees' also has some interesting ideas about swarming.  I personally like to cast my net far and wide, so to speak, but I think pretty much anything you can find by Seeley on swarming is worth a look.

----------


## Dan

> Which one did you find most useful to give the required knowledge on swarming?


Without having them in front of me I'd start with Mark Winston's Honeybee Biology, and dip into Seeley's Honeybee Democracy for clarification of key points. Ribbands and Butler are dated in other areas but their observational work was diligent and is still pertinent and would help flesh out the topic.

----------


## Black Comb

Thanks for the replies.
I'll check them all out.

----------


## Neils

The Buzz about bees by Tautz is also useful. There wasn't a big question on swarming in November so there might well be come march.

----------


## Neils

Envelope waiting for me this morning. 3 down, 4 to go  :Big Grin: 

Not a high a mark as I'd perhaps hoped, but I'll take a pass  :Smile:

----------


## Dan

Well done Neil - a pass is still a pass  :Smile:

----------


## thada1

> well, if we don't get what we want, then it would be fun to get the examiner's feedback (like Emily Heath did) and post all the information - hopefully just in time for a re-sit in March 2013!


phew.  No need for a re-sit on module 6 for me.  Next up - queen rearing/module 7.

----------


## Neils

Well done  :Smile:

----------


## Blackcavebees

Just wanted to say thanks to Neils, this thread has been a good resource for Mod 6

----------


## Black Comb

I agree.
Some high quality information.

----------


## Neils

Glad you found it useful and good luck to all taking modules this weekend.

----------


## masterbk

Best of luck to those taking the module examinations tomorrow. Hope the snow doesn't prevent people getting to exam rooms. Please keep to the point and try not to waffle (as this takes up too much of your time and some of us have to read it). Remember that the section C question carries alot of marks so make sure you have allocated enough time to write a full logically sequenced answer justifying your statements wherever possible.

----------

