It is so easy to anthropomorphize honey bee behaviors. For example, folk often speak of a bee "defending" their colony, such as a human soldier would do, understanding the threat to his/her tribe, and knowing the potential risk of death involved to him/herself. I know of no evidence that a guard or soldier bee has any such awareness of threat, the concept of colony, or potential risk to self (death due to stinging). On the contrary, their stinging can be explained by simple hard-wired responses to cues that trigger certain behaviors. No awareness of colony, threat, defense, or self risk in required. -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html