Juanse (thank you!) posted the link to this paper: β-Ocimene, a Key Floral and Foliar Volatile Involved in Multiple Interactions between Plants and Other Organisms I suggest that anyone interested in the topic of nest regulation, broodrearing triggers, or the formation of diutinus bees read it. It could answer some of our questions, and help to explain the findings of Otis and Mattila, and Smedal and Amdam about the transition to "winter bees." This is a wonderful example of plant:bee communication. I've reworked one of the figures from the paper, and added the human perception of the major flower volatiles. Besides e-beta-ocimene, note how common benzaldehyde is. But at high concentration, it is used as a bee repellent. -- 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