Hi Allen

Those of you that were around a year ago might like to look
away now.

We've flogged this topic rather too much in the past, but
you asked a direct question and perhaps the answer will help
clarify matters.

> If we don't get at least one answer to this, I'm
> going to have to conclude either 1.) that nobody
> here believes strongly in the dance language
> hypothesis, or 2.) that nobody who does can imagine
> anything that would change his/her mind about it.

I used to be in mild agreement with Adrian.  The debates on
here and another forum made me look into it and read the
literature that was being challenged, and I now believe that
it is absolutely certain that bees use the information in
their dance to locate the approximate position of forage.
My mind was changed, and I know that I am not alone here in
that.  That certainty comes because the experiments you ask
for have already been done.  Not repeatedly, but they have
been done well by experienced and careful researchers.

So, what study might convince me that the dance language is
untenable?  Simply show a forager a dance then watch to see
what happens.  If it flies according to non-dance cues, the
'language' is in question.  If the experiment is done
repeatedly with the same answer it is in deep trouble.  If
it flies according to the information in the dance, then
that suggests that the information in the dance is being
used.  In the recent studies - patterned tunnels to fool
bees on distance, and radar tracking of naive new recruits
after they've watched a dance - are very clear.

To take the radar studies again:

1. Take an observation colony to a new site and number the
foragers individually.
2. Monitor bees going in and out.
3. Permit scouts to find a dish of feed.
4. Identify workers watching the new dance for the first
time, catch them, add a transponder and release.
5. Track them.

And, just to add that elegant touch:

6. Convey a proportion in opaque tubes some distance away,
then release.  Track them.

The three outcomes could be:

a. bees fly according to some different cue in directions
that disagree with the dance.
b. bees don't like the procedure and sulk, or panic, or do
something strange.
c. bees fly for the distance and direction in the dance
(even if, in the case of displaced bees, they are being
fooled).

'a' would put the dance language into serious doubt
'b' would put the experimental design into doubt
'c' is only consistent with the dance language information
being available to and used by the bee.

Odour contamination of feeders is not an issue here. Apart
from the care the researchers took, the displaced bees were
fooled by the dance, and by the dance alone, into their
flight pattern.

Does that answer your questions Allen?  If I can find the
radar tracking paper, I'll send it to you privately.

all the best

Gavin.

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---