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Mon, 4 Jul 2011 13:16:09 -0700 |
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>
> >You don't pee in an outhouse, so you go in the bushes. That spot was
> always covered by foraging bees. I always assumed they were looking for
> salt.
This is a common way to attract butterflies for collection, but embarrassing
with regard to honey bees.
One interesting paper that I read studied the attractiveness of various
water sources to bees. Dried cow dung in water was very attractive, but
when further analyzed, it wasn't the salt, it was the salt-free odor.
However, this could be due to the evolutionary wiring of bees to seek dung
or urine for salt.
The salt in water issue is very confusing, as a number of studies have found
salt to be toxic to bees, yet others finding that bees greatly preferred
water with a bit of salt.
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
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