--- Isis Glass <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> The fact that they can somehow bring other bees to
> dishes with sugar syrup
> *seems to point toward* some type of communication,
> other than odor.

Hello,

I'm not Dr. Wenner, but as far as I’ve been able to
research, it still points to odor.

I checked out the MSDS for sugar (sucrose)
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/s7394.htm

First,,, disclaimer:
MSDS, states in section 2 that sucrose is hazardous,
so please be careful when working with this substance.
 I must inform for liability reasons, when working
with hazardous materials such as sucrose, that
goggles, lab coat and gloves should be worn as stated
in section 3 of the MSDS for sucrose.

Section 9 states that sucrose does have an odor:

"9. Physical and Chemical Properties
Appearance:
Monoclinic sphenoidal crystals.
Odor:
Characteristic caramel."

I'm not sure, is there any thing bees would forage
that they can't detect an odor from, or that there is
even an odorless substance that would be attractable
to bees?  ,,,except maybe water, which I imagine would
still have some type of trace odor.

On a related matter.  Check out these 4 videos of a
bee searching out 24 different odors to find the one
of which was rewarded:

Bees flying in front of the artificial meadow &
Computer tracking of bee flights:
http://galizia.ucr.edu/data_mov/content/flighttrack.html

(the videos came from this page)
"Examples of optical recording data from the insect
olfactory system"
http://galizia.ucr.edu/data_mov/content/

Best Wishes,



Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries'
My Site: http://www.biologicalbeekeeping.com
Organic Bee Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Organicbeekeepers/
Feral Bee Project: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/



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