>Nectar foraging is independent of variation in colony honey stores. 

> I think this is a great example of how studies based on a specific set of conditions and assumptions can be used to attempt to prove something that is observably untrue outside those specific conditions. 

Now, I think that you are the one who is making assumptions. Did you look at the objectives of the study in question? As a matter of fact, they began on the assumption that nectar foraging *would be* related to colony needs. But the evidence showed quite a different conclusion. Having set up the study correctly, they were forced to accept the results, regardless of what any prior assumptions may have been

> In honey bees (Apis mellifera), energy and nitrogen requirements are met by two distinct resources: nectar and pollen. Thus they provide an ideal opportunity to compare regulatory mechanisms for energy and nitrogen collection. Previous studies of pollen foraging have shown that it is extremely sensitive to variation in colony state. Individuals use information on colony pollen levels to closely adjust pollen foraging activity homeostatically in relation to colony nitrogen requirements. In this study we investigate the relationship between honey storage levels (energy storage) and individual nectar foraging decisions and compare regulatory mechanisms for pollen and nectar foraging. Individual foragers did not vary activity rates or nectar load sizes in response to changes in honey stores, and colonies did not increase nectar intake rates when honey stores within the hive were decreased.

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Peter Loring Borst
128 Lieb Road
Spencer, NY  14883
607 280 4253
peterloringborst.com

I take the trouble to protest against these assumptions, because they are not merely harmless fancies, but theories that are apt to paralyse action and encourage scientific indolence. -- James Crichton-Browne	

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