Aversive Learning in Honeybees Revealed by the Olfactory Conditioning of the Sting Extension Reflex
Figure 1
View of a honeybee in the experimental set-up. The bee is fixed between two brass plates (E1, E2) set on a plexiglas plate (pp), with EEG cream smeared on the two notches (N1, N2) to ensure good contact between the plates and the bee, and a girdle (G) that clamped the thorax to restrain mobility. The bee closes a circuit and receives a mild electric shock (7.5V) which induces the sting extension reflex (SER). An originally neutral odorant is delivered through a 20 ml syringe (S) placed 1cm from the antennae. Odorant stimulation lasted 5 sec. The electric shock started 3 sec after odorant onset and lasted 2 sec so that it ended with odorant offset. Contamination with remains of odorants used for conditioning or pheromones is avoided via an air extractor (AE) which is on continuously.