Small carpenter bees (Ceratina calcarata Robertson) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) build their nests in both sunny and shady sites, so maternal decisions about nest sites influence the thermal environment experienced by juveniles throughout development. A previous study demonstrated that when larvae and pupae were raised in the laboratory at room temperature, those from sunny nests developed more slowly than those from shady nests. This suggested that bees developing in sunny nests slowed their metabolism or that bees developing in shady nests increased their metabolism. To test this hypothesis, we performed a field experiment in which bees nested in full sun, full shade, or semi-shade. We brought larvae and pupae into the laboratory to be raised to adulthood at room temperature and measured their metabolic rates (VCO2) at 10 °C, 25 °C, and 40 °C. As expected, bees had higher VCO2 at higher test temperatures, but significant interaction also occurred between test temperature and field treatment, such that bees from sunny nests exhibited higher metabolic rates at 40 °C. Because small carpenter bees frequently nest in full sun, adaptation to high nest temperatures may involve activation of thermal protection mechanisms at the cost of slower development.

小木匠蜜蜂（Ceratina calcarata Robertson）（膜翅目：Apidae）在阳光充足和阴暗的地方都筑巢，因此母体对巢穴的决定会影响幼虫在整个发育过程中所经历的热环境。先前的一项研究表明，当在室温下在实验室中饲养幼虫和p时，阳光巢中的幼虫比阴暗巢中的幼虫发育缓慢。这表明在阳光充足的巢中发育的蜜蜂减慢了新陈代谢，或者在阴暗的巢中发育的蜜蜂增加了新陈代谢。为了检验该假设，我们进行了野外实验，其中蜜蜂在完全阳光，完全阴影或半阴影的条件下筑巢。我们将幼虫和p带入实验室，在室温下长大成年，并测量了它们的代谢率（VCO2）在10°C，25°C和40°C下。不出所料，蜜蜂在较高的测试温度下具有较高的VCO 2，但在测试温度和现场处理之间也发生了显着的相互作用，因此阳光充足的巢穴中的蜜蜂在40°C时表现出较高的代谢率。由于小木匠蜜蜂经常在充足的阳光下筑巢，因此要适应较高的筑巢温度，可能需要激活热保护机制，但发展速度较慢。