>  Sure enough, bees flying over the cover went into a tailspin and crashed onto their backs on the foil.


At the risk of stating the obvious, those bees likely got confused about where the sun was.  Their ocellus and compound eyes work together, regulating their flight orientation to keep them aligned with the horizon. When a flying insect tilts in flight, one ocellus is darkened while another gets more light. The insect can adjust and equalize flight by balancing the ocelli illumination. The foil reflects the sun like a mirror and bounces back a bunch of IR heat, and who knows what is actually happening, but my bet is the disorientation of their flight biology.  I've seen bees plug into the snow-covered ground with the bright winter sun, and I suspect the same is happening.

  

             ***********************************************
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