>>He set a feeding station on a tower about 65 feet up.

I wonder how the stingless scouts found the feeding station in the first place...  I assume they are accustomed to flying up and down tall objects/trees in search of food in their native habitat.  In the dense tropics very little sun reaches the ground and most of the forage is likely to be in the tall tree canopies. 

Was this experiment valid?  You know aerospace engineers had also claimed for a long time the honey bee wing design could not result in flight... ;-)))

Would you know if in the experiment the food source on top of the tower was unscented?

Another question that should be asked: was there something else blooming in the area closer to the ground during the experiment that attracted the bees more?

Certainly, bees in Manhattan don't starve and surplus NYC honey can be purchased in stores [at rather extravagant prices:)].  I'd say this experiment was flawed if it aimed to prove or disprove dance language for vertical food location.  Bees use a combination of methods and factors for food location and taking one component shed limited light.

It's great that stingless bees do well in tropic by scenting the trail to the food source in trees that can exceed 100 ft.  I hope my bees don't acquire the trait of marking across busy roadways.  Pesticide kills would pale in comparison with road kills. :)

Waldemar

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