> we should not simply assume that  "they have no way of knowing how much they have."

Yes, but that is precisely the position that I am taking. You have to show that they can evaluate the total of honey stores (many square yards of comb), calculate how long it would last (long past their own lifetimes), conceptualize this, and communicate it.

On the other hand, we know that scouts are out all the time, and when they find abundant nectar, they recruit foragers. During a major honey flow, this snowballs, and the hive gets swamped with honey. In a wild or unsupered colony, this may be halted by the simple inability of the house bees to handle the influx. 

But if the hive is adequately supered, there needn't be any such stoppage of work, and they can put up hundreds of pounds of honey. In my opinion, this is why real beekeeping works. Because we are taking advantage of the fact that they *don't know* how much they have, and will hoard honey till they die.

Besides, the null hypothesis is that bees "know nothing", that their behavior is purely reflexive, they make hay while the grass is green, etc. You have to show me otherwise, and I don't see where anyone has done this. 

PLB

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