Hi Allen & al
I think that Aaron would be pleased that folks are going back into the Bee-L archives, that legacy was very important to him. I am looking through the postings of 1990. Only about 200 for the whole year. I found a reference to Peter Kevan's paper on skunk cabbage, which may be reappearing soon in this region (well it depends on what you call soon -- in a month or two).

Skunk cabbages flower in early spring, often through snow, ice and frozen ground in
swampy woodlands in Northeastern North America. The nectarless inflorescences produce heat and
mimetic scents, notably carrion, apple, turnip and garlic; however they are sometimes unscented.
They are protogynous and, in the male phase, produce pollen copiously. Pollen collecting honeybees
do not visit unscented spathes, instead they visit scented ones depending on the proportion of
the various scents in a given foraging patch.

excerpted from
How honey bees forage for pollen at skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus fœtidus (Araceae)
P.G. Kevan, University of Guelph

Comment: carrion, apple, turnip and garlic... sounds like a recipe for mincemeat pie! Fetid!

PLB

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