A query from Dave Black prompts this reply about A. cerana
ventilation.  Indeed, cerana does face out of the hive when fanning,
thus pushing air into the nest rather than pulling it out.  The
closely related Asian species, Apis koschevnikovi, also does the same
as cerana.  As to relative efficiency for ventilation, I cannot
comment.
    Unfortunately, I am not sure what is meant by the other part of
the question concerning the "synchronised flock movement in A.
dorsata and A. cerana."  I have spent much time watching dorsata
colonies (division of labour studies) and if this occurred, I was not
aware of it.  Of course, some such observations must be analysed
statistically before patterns emerge.  As for mellifera, I spent
several days observing African and European exits and entries of
workers in eastern Venezuela.  The goal was to compare temporal
patterns of foraging.  I can tell you that when looking at the data
in 5-minute intervals, there were large differences from one 5 minute
period to the next.  When averaged, those differences tend to
disappear.  I suspect that is indicative of different levels of
activity, but the ultimate cause of that is not clear to me.
 
                                    Dr. Gard Otis
                                    Dept. of Environmental Biology
                                    University of Guelph
                                    Guelph, Ontario  Canada
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