> James Fischer wrote:>But when bees dance, they do waggle runs that are angled from "straight up",as "straight up" represents the vector to the sun in the dances.  So bees
> can sense "up", even in compete darkness<

Bees dance on their feet and fly using their wings - I think. :)  
So use different sensations to detect up and down. 
Surely flying bees correct pitch and yaw using perception of light intensity via their occuli, on top of their heads.  Normally, the strongest light will be from the sky, so strong = up.  Flying over snow, the strongest light is snow reflection, so if a bee happens to flip , say due to wind turbulence, it could re-orientate upside down. Isn't it as simple as that? 
Probably not.   Perception of polarised light comes into it somewhere. I have read that bees can flip and crash flying over water, as the refections there are polarised and are confused with polarised light from an overcast sky.  
Time for expert comment?

Robin 
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