Hi all
I have never accepted the usual explanations about how smoke affects bees. The action on the nervous system is like a narcotic response. It impairs their sensory perception and their mental processes, rendering them groggy and defenseless. Gorging of honey is not key, because other stinging insects exhibit response to smoke without eating honey. 

* * *

The defensive behavior of stinging social bees
and wasps is still relatively little studied. This
behavior involves stages of perception, recognition,
possibly recruitment of other individuals, and
response. Defensive behavior probably includes a
number of both individual and social responses.

The presence of smoke may act on several of
the above responses at once, and may act at several
different stages. In species with chemical alarm
recruitment, it probably would interfere with the
perception of these signals, as it does in honey bees

Smoke greatly reduced the nest-defense attacks
of yellowjackets and bumblebees. This effect was
previously undescribed. In our studies, the number
of attacking insects was reduced 94% for
yellowjackets and 85% for bumblebees in
comparison with controls during the 1st min after
agitation. 

P. KIRK VISSCHER AND RICHARD S. VETfER
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
88(3): 579-583 (1995)

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