0800 / 24 March 1993
Message to BEE-L subscribers
 
        A year ago January, I published a short article about swarm
movement (AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, pp. 27-31).  Some of the input received
has been interesting and should be shared.  One observer from North
Carolina wrote that he had detected a strong pleasant odor when in the
midst of a moving swarm (likely Nasanov odor), something I had suspected
should be true.  A beekeeper in Washington State has noticed more than
once that all of the hundreds of scouts that have been travelling back
and forth between former site and adopted site suddenly return to the
parent cluster just before the swarm moves -- again, something I suspected
should occur but had not yet witnessed.
 
        The most rewarding comment came from a beekeeper in Israel, who
wrote, "This is the first time [a] scientist has explained most facts in the
problems of swarms."
 
        Now that swarm season is once again upon us, I would appreciate
hearing of other observations that might pertain to that article published
a year ago January.  At least some of you now have swarm hives installed.
Perhaps you might notice what I noticed just prior to occupancy -- some
of the scout bees were executing the dance maneuver on the outside of the
swarm hive that was later to be occupied.  Also, it would be of interest
if any of you could confirm the observations mentioned above.
 
        Any other thoughts would be most welcome.
 
        Best wishes.
                                                Adrian M. Wenner
                                                Prof. of Nat. History, Emeritus
 
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