Hi all
In my opinion, none of the standard explanations of how and why smoke works on bees accurately reflect what we see, what I have seen for more than 40 years. Free wrote

> After smoke was blown among the bees of a small colony, the amount of food in their honey sacs soon increased greatly, and then decreased slowly; even two hours after smoking the average weight of the honey sacs was greater than before smoking began. The amount bees ingested was not related to their age, but the honey sacs of bees 10 days old (likely to be feeding brood and building comb) were fuller than those of other bees before their colony was smoked, so they were also fuller afterwards. Bees that stung a provocative object tended to have less food in their honey sacs than bees that did not sting it.

> Newton's and my own results indicate that only about half the bees engorge when their colony is smoked, it seems highly likely that other effects of smoke on bees are also important to the beekeeper.

Free, J. B. (1968). Engorging of honey by worker honeybees when their colony is smoked. 

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In my opinion, work by Kirk Vissher, &c. explains the actual effect of smoke on honey bees, -- and wasps by the way. Wasps do not gorge on honey but smoke affects the similarly to bees.


> The application of smoke to honey bee (Apis mellifera) antennae reduced the subsequent electroantennograph response of the antennae to honey bee alarm pheromones, isopentyl acetate, and 2-heptanone. This effect was reversible, and the responsiveness of antennae gradually returned to that of controls within 10–20 min. A similar effect occurred with a floral odor, phenylacetaldehyde, suggesting that smoke interferes with olfaction generally, rather than specifically with honey bee alarm pheromones. A reduction in peripheral sensitivity appears to be one component of the mechanism by which smoke reduces nest defense behavior of honey bees.

Visscher, P. Kirk, Richard S. Vetter, Gene E. Robinson. (1995). Alarm pheromone perception in honey bees is decreased by smoke. Journal of Insect Behavior. January 1995, Volume 8, Issue 1, pp 11-18

> The defensive behavior of colonies of Vespula pensylvanica (Saussure) and Bombus sonorus Say is assayed with an easily-constructed electronic monitor that counts the number of impacts of insects attacking Ping-Pong ball targets. Black targets are attacked, and white targets are not. The administration of smoke to colonies before disturbing them greatly reduces the number of attacks. In B. sonorus, the reduction was >2-fold and in V. pensylvanica >10-fold. This suggests mechanisms of the effect of smoke besides those that have been described for honey bees. This effect may be useful to subdue these insects during insecticide treatments to destroy their nests.

Visscher, K. P., & Vetter, R. S. (1995). Smoke and target color effects on defensive behavior in yellowjacket wasps and bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Apidae) with a description of an electronic attack monitor. Journal of economic entomology, 88(3), 579-583.

posted by PLB

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