> A beekeeper asked a question that I could not answer.  He has some bees
> going to salt water.  I mean SALTY water.  What gives?
>
> Thanks for the responses,
> Ed
 
A number of experiments were conducted on bees by Karl Von Frisch. In one of the
experiments he added salt at various concentrations to sugar solutions to determine
at what level the bees would notice the taste. He found that the bees would still
take the sugar solution even though the concentration of salt was well above the
point at which a human could detect the taste. (I can't remember the exact
concentrations). So maybe the answer to why are the bees going to salt water, is that
they DO NOT realise that it is salty. If you are interested the book is called "Bees:
Their vision, chemical senses and language" by Karl Von Frisch. A very interesting
book. Hope this helps
 
Michael
-----------------------------
Michael Clark
[log in to unmask]
-----------------------------