One thing to keep in mind is that the Western honey bee coevolved with
plants native to the Old World, so would be expected to be tuned to the
scents of those that provided the greatest fitness values.  That's likely
why honey bees often prefer introduced Old World plants on other continents.

Re detection by odor, refer to  Linander N, Hempel de Ibarra N, Laska M
(2012) Olfactory detectability of L-amino acids in the European honeybee
(Apis mellifera). Chem Senses 37:631–638

We found that honeybees are able to detect the odor of 5 of the 20
proteinogenic amino acids when presented at a concentration of 50 or 100
mM. Median olfactory detection thresholds for these 5 amino acids were 12.5
mM with L-tyrosine and L-cysteine, 50 mM with L-tryptophan and
L-asparagine, and 100 mM with L-proline. All detection thresholds were much
higher than reported concentrations of amino acids in floral nectars. We
conclude that in the foraging and feeding context, honeybees are likely to
detect amino acids through taste rather than olfaction
-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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