The Department of Biology

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Dr. Stan Schneider

 

Professor

Animal behavior; communication and

foraging in the honeybee.

Office: (704) 687-5827

Lab: (704) 687-8526

Woodward 288A

please note new email address:  sschnedr@uncc.edu

 

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D. Animal Behavior, University of California at Davis (1984)

  • M.S. Biology, Texas State University (1978)

  • B.S. Biology, Texas State University (1975)

Courses Taught 

The Behavioral Ecology of the Honey Bee

  • The research in my lab focuses on two main aspects of honey bee behavior. A major emphasis in my lab is on the communication signals that regulate and adjust colony activities in response to changing conditions. Two communication signals are examined. First, we explore how the waggle dance is used to regulate colony-level foraging activity and movement. We use waggle dance activity to map spatial foraging patterns and determine how these patterns change with changing colony food needs. We also use the waggle dance to investigate movement patterns when colonies undergo reproductive swarming and seasonal migration [video clip on waggle dancer on a swarm]. Second, we study the role of the vibration signal [video clip; the bee with the tag Red 51 begins vibrating at 9 s] in regulating cooperative activities within colonies. We have determined that the signal functions as a type of modulatory communication signal that causes a non-specific increase in activity. This, in turn, enhances many different behaviors, including foraging, brood care, food processing nest maintenance, swarming and house hunting [video clip of a vibrating bee on a swarm].  We have also found that workers use the vibration signal to influence queen behavior during colony reproduction, queen rearing and queen replacement [video clip; a worker vibrates a virgin queen at 1 s and then again at 12 s, immediately after which the queen performs piping].  The vibration signal may therefore play a major role in coordinating multiple colony activities.

  • A second emphasis in my lab is on the biology and behavior of the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata. The African bee was introduced into South America in the 1950s and has become a major threat to beekeeping and agriculture in many parts of the Neotropics. Our work focuses on the nesting biology, foraging behavior, defensive behavior, swarming and migratory movements of the bee in both Africa and Latin America. We are determining the factors that have contributed to the rapid spread of the African bee in the new world. We also are examining if the behavior of the bee in Latin America differs from that in its native African environment. Most recently, we have begun to explore the survival and success of European-African hybrid colonies, because hybridization is at the heart of most programs designed to manage the African honey bee in the new world.

 

Selected Publications

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  1. Boucher, M, SS Schneider.  2009.  Communication signals used in worker-drone interactions in the honey bee, Apis mellifera.  Animal Behaviour (in press; doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.04.019); featured in In Focus in the August 2009 issue.
     

  2. Cao, TC, Hyland KM, Malechuk A, Lewis LA, Schneider SS.  2009.  The effect of repeated vibration signals on worker behavior in established and newly founded colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63:  521-529 [PDF]
     

  3. Duong, N, SS Schneider.  2008.  Intra-patriline variability in the performance of the vibration signal and waggle dance in the honey bee, Apis mellifera.  Ethology 114:  646-655 [PDF]
     

  4. Lewis, LA, SS Schneider.  2008.  "Migration dances" in swarming colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.  Apidologie 39:  354-361 [PDF].
     

  5. Schneider, SS, G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2008.  Queen replacement in African and European honey bee colonies with and without afterswarms.  Insectes Sociaux 55:  79-85 [PDF].
     

  6. Schneider, SS, G DeGrandi-Hoffman, D Tarpy, D Smith.  2008.  The African honey bee in the Americas.  African Beekeeping Quarterly (in press).
     

  7. Cao, T T, KM Hyland, A Malechuck, LA Lewis, SS Schneider.  2007.  The influence of the vibration signal on worker interactions with the nest and nest mates in established and newly founded colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.  Insectes Sociaux  54:  144-149.  [PDF]
     

  8. Pierce AL, LA Lewis, SS Schneider.  2007.  The use of the vibration signal and worker piping to influence queen behavior during swarming in honey bees, Apis mellifera.  Ethology 113:  267-275.  [PDF]
     

  9. Hyland KM, T T Cao, A Malechuk, LA Lewis, SS Schneider.  2007.  Vibration signal behaviour and the use of modulatory communication in established and newly founded honeybee colonies.  Animal Behaviour 73:  541-551 [PDF]
     

  10. Schneider S.  2007.  Migration Dance; Vibration Signal.  In:  (H Shimanuki, K Flottum and A Harman, eds.) The ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture – 41st ed.  pp. 183-184.
     

  11. Schneider S.  2007.  Vibration signals and the organization of labour in honey bee colonies.  Bee Craft 89 (7):  14-19. [PDF]
     

  12. Schneider S, G DeGrandi-Hoffman, D Smith, D Tarpy.  2006.  The African honey bee: A case study of a biological invasion.  Bee Culture 134 (4):  21-24.  [PDF]
     

  13. Schneider S, G DeGrandi-Hoffman, D Smith, D Tarpy.  2006.  The African honey bee II: The displacement of European honey bee by African bees in the New World.  Bee Culture 134 (5):  25-28.  [PDF]
     

  14. DeGrandi-Hoffman, G, M Chambers, S Schneider, D Tarpy, D Smith. 2006. The African honey bee III:  The African honey bee has arrived -- so where do we go from here?  Bee Culture 134 (6):  24-28.  [PDF]
     

  15. DeGrandi-Hoffman G, M Chambers, J Hooper, SS Schneider.  2004.  Description of an intermorph between a worker and queen in African honey bees Apis mellifera scutellata (Hymenoptera:  Apidae).  Annals of the Entomological Society of America  97:  1299-1305.
     

  16. Schneider SS, LA Lewis, ZY Huang.  2004.  The vibration signal and juvenile hormone titers in worker honey bees, Apis mellifera.  Ethology 110: 977-985. [PDF]
     

  17. Schneider SS, G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2004.  Mechanisms that favor the continuity of the Afican honeybee genome in the Americas.  In:  Proceedings of the 8th IBRA International Conference on Tropical Bees and VI Encontro sobre Abelhas (K Hartfelder, et al., Eds).  FMRP/USP, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. pp. 232-240. [reprint]
     

  18. DeGrandi-Hoffman G, DR Tarpy, SS Schneider.  2004.  Details, details:  How sperm use might influence the Africanization process.  American Bee Journal 144:  453-455.
     

  19. Schneider SS, T Deeby, DC Gilley and G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2004.  Seasonal nest usurpation of European colonies by African swarms in Arizona, U.S.A.  Insectes Sociaux 51: 359-364 [PDF].
     

  20. Schneider SS and LA Lewis.  2004.  The vibration signal, modulatory communication and the organization of labor in honey bees, Apis mellifera.  Apidologie 35:  117-131. [PDF]
     

  21. Schneider SS, G DeGrandi-Hoffman and DR Smith.  2004. The African honey bee:  factors contributing to a successful biological invasion.  Annual Review of Entomology 49: 351-376.  [PDF]
     

  22. Donahoe K, LA Lewis and SS Schneider.  2003.  The role of the vibration signal in the house-hunting process of honey bee (Apis mellifera) swarms.  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 54:  593-600. [PDF]
     

  23. Schneider SS, LJ Leamy, LA Lewis and G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2003.  The influence of hybridization between African and European honeybees, Apis mellifera, on asymmetries in wing size and shape. Evolution 57:  2350-2364. [PDF]
     

  24. Schneider, SS and LA Lewis.  2003.  Honey bee communication:  The "tremble dance", the "vibration signal" and the "migration dance".  Monographs in Honey Bee Biology, No. 1.  Northern Bee Books, West Yorks, Great Britain, pp. 1-26.
     

  25. Schneider SS and G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2003.  The influence of paternity on virgin queen success in hybrid colonies of European and African honey bees, Apis mellifera.  Animal Behaviour 65:  883-892. [PDF]
     

  26. DeGrandi-Hoffman G, D Tarpy and SS Schneider.  2003.  Patriline composition of worker populations in honey bee (Apis mellifera L) colonies headed by queens inseminated with semen from African and European drones.  Apidologie 34:  111-120. [PDF]
     

  27. Schneider, SS and G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2002.  The influence of worker behavior and paternity on the development and emergence of honeybee queens.  Insectes Sociaux 49:  306-314. [PDF]
     

  28. Schneider, SS, S Painter-Kurt and G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2002.  Regulation of virgin queen behavior by the vibration signal of the honey bee and its possible role in the Africanization process.  In:  Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Africanized Honey Bees and Bee Mites (EH Erickson, RE Page & AA Hanna, Eds).  AI Root Co., Medina, Ohio.  pp. 34-44.
     

  29. DeGrandi-Hoffman, G. and SS Schneider.  2002.  Worker behaviors in queenless Africanized honey bee colonies.  In:  Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Africanized Honey Bees and Bee Mites (EH Erickson, RE Page & AA Hanna, Eds).  AI Root Co, Medina, Ohio.  pp. 104-108.
     

  30. Lewis, LA, SS Schneider and G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2002.  Factors influencing the selection of recipients by workers performing vibration signals in colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.  Animal Behaviour 63:  361-367. [PDF]
     

  31. Schneider, SS, S Painter-Kurt and G DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2001.  The role of the vibration signal during queen competition in colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.   Animal Behaviour 61:  1173-1180. [PDF]
     

  32. Lewis, LA and SS Schneider.  2000.  The modulation of worker behavior by the vibration signal during house hunting in swarms of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.   Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 48:  154-164. [PDF]
     

  33. Mayer, K., LC McNally, SS Schneider. 1998. Ovarian development and trophallaxis in queenless colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Journal of Apicultural Research 37:  295-297.
     

  34. Schneider, SS, PK Visscher, S Camazine. 1998. Vibration signal behavior of waggle-dancers in swarms of the honey bee, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Ethology 104: 963-972.
     

  35. Painter-Kurt, S & Schneider, SS. 1998. Age and behavior of honey bees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), that perform vibration signals on workers. Ethology 104: 457-473. 
     

  36. Painter-Kurt, S & Schneider, SS. 1998. Age and behavior of honey bees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), that perform vibration signals on queens and queen cells. Ethology 104: 475-485.
     

  37. Schneider, SS & Hall, HG. 1997. Diet selection and foraging distances of African and European-African hybrid honey bee colonies in Costa Rica. Insectes Sociaux 44: 171-187.[PDF]
     

  38. McNally, LC & Schneider, SS. 1996. Spatial distribution and nesting biology of colonies of the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata (Hymenoptera: Apidae), in Botswana, Africa. Environmental Entomology 25: 643-652. [PDF]
     

  39. Schneider, SS. 1995. Swarm movement patterns inferred from waggle dance activity of the neotropical African honey bee in Costa Rica. Apidologie 26: 395-406. [PDF]
     

  40. Schneider, SS & McNally, LC. 1994. Waggle dance behavior associated with seasonal absconding in colonies of the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata. Insectes Sociaux 41: 115-127. [PDF]
     

  41. Schneider, SS & McNally, LC. 1994. Developmental patterns associated with founding and swarming in colonies of the African honey bee race, Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier. Apidologie 25: 530-539.
    [PDF]
     

  42. McNally, LC & Schneider, SS. 1994. Drone production and drone comb utilization in colonies of the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier, in Africa. Apidologie 25: 547-556. [PDF]
     

  43. Schneider, SS & McNally, LC. 1993. Spatial foraging patterns and colony energy status in the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata. Journal of Insect Behavior 6: 195-210.
     

  44. Schneider, SS & McNally, LC. 1992. Colony defense in the African honey bee in Africa (Hymenoptea: Apidae). Environmental Entomology 21: 1362-1370.
     

  45. Schneider, SS & McNally, LC. 1992. Factors influencing seasonal absconding in colonies of the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata. Insectes Sociaux 39: 403-423. [PDF]
     

  46. McNally, LC & Schneider, SS. 1992. Seasonal cycles of growth, development and movement of the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata, in Africa. Insectes Sociaux 39: 167-179. [PDF]
     

  47. Schneider, SS & McNally, LC. 1992. Seasonal patterns of foraging activity in colonies of the African honey bee, Apis mellifera scutellata, in Africa. Insectes Sociaux 39: 181-193. [PDF]

 

Current Graduate and Undergraduate Honors Students

  • Melissa Lawler (Doctoral)

  • Marina Boucher (Honors)

  • Samantha Gilbert (Honors)

  • Gerad Colmer (Honors)

Completed Graduate and Undergraduate Honors Students

  • Nhi Duong.  BS with Honors December 2007.  Thesis title:  Intra-patriline variability in the performance of the vibration signal and waggle dance in the honey bee, Apis mellifera.  Currently a doctoral student in the lab of Dr. Anna Dornhaus at the University of Arizona

  • Andrew Pierce:  BS with Honors May 2007.  Thesis title: Worker-queen interactions inside honey bee swarms.  Currently a student in the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University

  • Kelly Hyland:  MS August 2006.  Thesis title:  The behavior of workers that perform vibration signals in newly founded and established honey bee colonies. Currently teaching high school in Charlotte, NC

  • Tuan Cao:  MS May 2006.  Thesis title:  The behavior of workers that receive vibration signals in newly founded and established honey bee colonies.  Currently a doctoral student in the lab of Dr. Anna Dornhaus, University of Arizona

  • Alana Malechuk:  BS with Honors May 2006:  Thesis title:  Foraging and Communication Behavior in Newly Founded and Established Honey Bee Colonies.  Currently a Masters student in the lab of Dr. Susan Fahrbach, Wake Forest University, NC

  • Kelly Donahoe:  BS with Honors May 2003. The role of the vibration signal in the house-hunting process of honey bee (Apis mellifera) swarms.  Currently a Masters student in Environmental Biology, Green Mountain College, VT

  • Melissa Williams:  BS with Honors May 2002.  The structure of vibration signals performed on workers and queens of the honey bee, Apis mellifera

  • Lee Lewis:  MS May 2000.  Thesis title:  The modulation of worker behavior by the vibration signal in swarms of the honey bee, Apis mellifera.   Currently an Adjunct Research Assistant at UNC Charlotte and co-owner of a private business.

  • Joseph Tieber.  MS May2000.  Thesis title:  Kin discrimination in honey bee colonies.  Currently an investment advisor for Wachovia Bank.

  • Sandra Painter-Kurt: MS April 1997. Thesis title: Age and Behavior of Honey Bees that Perform the VIbration Signal on Other Workers, Queens and Queen Cells. Currently a co-owner of Partners-in-Pet-Sitting pet care service.

  • Sylvia Harris. MS April 1994. Thesis title: Ecology and Management of the Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, on the Yadkin/Pee Dee River of the North Carolina Piedmont. Currently a wildlife biologist for the Arizona Fish and Wildlife Department.

  • Jeffrey Todd Martin. MS 1993. Thesis title: Spatial Foraging Patterns and Foraging Activity of Temperate Climate Honey Bees, Apis mellifera: Colony-Level Responses to Changing Nutritional Needs. Currently on the faculty of Fayetteville Technical Community College, NC.

  • Linda McNally. MS 1992. Thesis title: Nesting Biology and Behavior of the African Honey Bee, Apis mellifera scutellata, in Africa. Currently on the faculty of Davidson College, NC.

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The Department of Biology

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

9201 University City Blvd. ~ Woodward Hall 257

 Charlotte, NC 28223

Phone: (704)687-8686 ~ Fax: (704) 687-3128

Email: bioloffice@uncc.edu