Hybrid artificial bee colony algorithm with variable neighborhood search and memory mechanism

Artificial bee colony (ABC) is one of the most popular swarm intelligence optimization algorithms which have been widely used in numerical optimization and engineering applications. However, there are still deficiencies in ABC regarding its local search ability and global search efficiency. Aiming at these deficiencies, an ABC variant named hybrid ABC (HABC) algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the variable neighborhood search factor is added to the solution search equation, which can enhance the local search ability and increase the population diversity. Secondly, inspired by the neuroscience investigation of real honeybees, the memory mechanism is put forward, which assumes the artificial bees can remember their past successful experiences and further guide the subsequent foraging behavior. The proposed memory mechanism is used to improve the global search efficiency. Finally, the results of comparison on a set of ten benchmark functions demonstrate the superiority of HABC.