Current Members

Proboscis Extension Response (PER) Equipment

We have a robot that automates the PER process: it can rotate through 24 bees, present them with an odor, reward, or punishment, and photograph the proboscis extension response. See (Shafir, 2008) that describes this instrument. We also have a semi-automatic PER station.

History of the B. Triwaks Bee Research Center

Benjamin Triwaks was born in 1924 in Warsaw, Poland, and immigrated to Palestine with his parents in 1926. He graduated from Kadoorie Agricultural School, where he specialized in beekeeping. Triwaks joined the Haganah underground movement and later volunteered for the Jewish Brigade Group in the British Army during World War II. After the War he engaged in practical beekeeping. In 1947 Triwaks joined the Israel Defense Forces and fell in battle in Tantura on May 23, 1948.

Publications in refereed journals:

Please send an email to sharoni.shafir@mail.huji.ac.il if you would like a reprint

Hendriksma, H. P. ; Toth, A. L. ; Shafir, S. Individual and Colony Level Foraging Decisions of Bumble Bees and Honey Bees in Relation to Balancing of Nutrient Needs. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 2019, 7 177.

The effect of fatty acid nutrition on learning and memory

Lab Members: Yael Katz, Tania Masci

• Ph.D. 1995, Stanford University
• Professor

Research Areas

• Animal Cognition
• Behavioral Ecology
• Pollination Ecology

Teaching:

• Entomology Lab
• Honey Bee Biology
• Behavioral Ecology of Pollination

Research Interests:

• Decision-making processes in honey bees
• Cognitive ecology of pollination
• Crop pollination