> The offspring in the "dance" area may come from the contract pollination
> area of beekeeping. Beekeepers (as well as their customers) may be making
> choices in how they handle hive placement based on their understanding of
> bee navigational abilities.

And also, maybe, the misunderstanding thereof...  Scary, isn't it -- thousands
(millions!) of dollars staked on a theory that is pretty academic and shaky, and
which does not well begin to describe the situation we experience daily in the
field where the targets of the pollination effort are distributed in no simple
and easily describable fashion.  Sometimes there are geographical obstacles or
patterns, sometimes the crops are in pockets, here and there, sometimes there
are competing crops nearby.  Seldom are there a few dishes of sugar water
provided by researchers.

Nonetheless, we do get the job done.  I often think that this is not something
many researchers can take much credit for, Adrian being an notable exception.

> An example of this was mentioned on the list a while ago. Farmers were
> placing empty trailers in large fields to help the bees return to their
> hives, assuming the bees would use these landmarks to navigate. If I
> remember the report it worked and fewer field bees were lost.

You can see pictures of such huge featureless alfalfa fields with trailers
parked for bee navigation at http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/.  Follow the
'California Pollination' link to see the pictures Andy sent me describing Brian
Ferguson's outfit.

> If assumptions are made as to the bees having a accurate navigation system
> that is based on the "dance" then choices are most likely being made on this
> information.

I am not aware of a 'turn right at the trailer' dance step that bees must do if
the trailers somehow fit into a theory that seems to have bees flying by some
imaginary celestial reference map transmitted by dancing, and not by sight,
smell, and local landmarks.  Rather, I somehow think the beekeepers know that
the bees need to see and maybe smell the trailers and use them as landmarks if
theory are to return reliably to their hives.  The need for such trailers would,
to me, tend to discredit -- rather than confirm -- the belief that bees chiefly
navigate as Von Frisch thought.  If they did, the trailers should not be
necessary.

> If the choices are right, then the "dance" is being used to
> help beekeepers. If the "dance" theory is incorrect then the result of the
> choices is left to chance.

I don't see what the trailers have to do with the dance.  And, they are put
there to eliminate chance.  They allow the bees to navigate by sight, and smell.

Speaking of Andy, which I was above, I guess it is now almost exactly a year
since he passed on.  I recall I was just planning to go to see him and to see
the almond pollination when he took ill and died...

allen