"Our data support the conclusion that honey bees possess a magnetite-based
magnetoreceptor located in the abdomen."

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1851/20162873

Thoughts instantly jump to "compasses" and "navigation", but that's where we
lose our own way.

If the magnetoreceptor might be useful for bee navigation, why didn't the
bees in Towne's repeated and very elegant experiments show more successful
navigation under cloudy conditions when he "fooled" the bees by placing them
in a mirror image landscape?  Why were the bees so completely fooled, and
only corrected their error when the sun came out from behind the clouds?

http://jeb.biologists.org/content/211/23/3737
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/20/3767

And if magnetoreceptors are of any practical value to bees, why do they
follow terrain features under cloudy conditions? 

And if not, then what is it for?

Like Michael Franti, the more we see, the less we know.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html