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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Peter L Borst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:17:11 -0400
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Randy writes 
>  if, as you suggest, that they have no way of knowing how much honey is in the hive.

OK. Let's move to the next step. How could they "know" how much honey they have and  how long it would last? How would they obtain this information and where would the knowledge of it reside? 

But again, what evidence is there that bees work less vigorously with 200 pounds of honey on the hive? I have heard people say that taking the honey off a hive causes the colony to work harder, but that simply makes no sense at all if they have no way of knowing how much they have nor how long it would last.

It seems to be a given that the success of Apis m. as a species has depended on the fact that they hoard honey regardless of how much they already have. That if there is available nectar they will collect it, far beyond what they might need for another year. They never stop, thinking-- there, that's enough.

PLB

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