Early social context alters paired interactions in the bumblebee <i>Bombus impatiens</i>

Bumblebees are eusocial insects that carry out a variety of collective tasks which keep the colony functioning. In order to successfully cooperate, individual bees must be able to interpret and respond to a range of social cues. Bumblebees go through an acclimation period of about nine days after they eclose from their pupa during which they settle into the role they will have within the hive. In this study we investigate whether this period is also an important part of social development by quantifying the effects of social isolation on adult behavior. We track the posture of bees over time using SLEAP and quantify bee behavior alone and in pairs. We cluster the dynamics of bee body parts to identify stereotyped behaviors, as well as investigating relative positioning, bee-to-bee antennation, and locomotion. Among our results, we find that isolated and hive-reared bees respond to a range of social contexts in distinct ways, differing in edge preference, locomotion profiles, and inter-thorax distance when paired with another bee.