>
> > ​I wonder if bees are able to perceive the earth's position
> relative to the sun in a manner that we mere humans simply are not.​
> Admittedly I'm thinking outside the box, but can this be definitively ruled
> out?


LOL--thanks Aaron!  The position of everything in the Universe is
relative.  The Earth is in a pretty stable orbit around the sun.  As far as
I know, the only *seasonal* physical phenomenon that the bees could detect
(other than night gazing at the stars), would be photoperiod, the angle of
the sun's rays, and a slight change in distance to the sun.

But I think that we've largely already shown that colonies can brood up
heavily in response to a nectar and pollen flow that occurs around the
Winter Solstice, and can be forced to go into survival mode not long after
the Summer Solstice.  Thus, environmental factors can clearly override
astrological factors.  I'm not saying that they don't have an influence,
but they would be only part of the picture.

OMG Aaron, since I ALWAYS do background research, I just checked for your
birthdate in order to see what astrological sign you were (I keep detailed
data on every single beekeeper who posts anything on the Web).  You and I
share the same birthday!  We were thus both born at a similar point in the
Earth's orbit around the sun.  That could explain some of our similar
disfunctionalities.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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