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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Peter Borst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 6 Dec 2006 13:25:28 -0500
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chrissy shaw wrote:

>Teaching bees would seem to me to require breeding, workers can not live
long enough in the field to be taught.  

Chrissy

I am sorry but you are quite mistaken in thinking that bees cannot be
taught. They are easily trained to visit stations where sugar syrup is
provided and not only will they return to the same spot, they can be taught
that the syrup will be available at a certain time. I would refer you to
Karl von Frisch's book "Bees: Their Vision, Chemical Senses, and Language".
In it he describes experiments where he trained bees using color, scent,
shape, and taste.

This training, of course, utilizes abilities they already possess for the
assessment of the quality and the memorization of the location of flowers in
order to make optimum use of them as food sources. They have an acute sense
of locality and are able to memorize the appearance of landscapes as well as
buildings and even locations inside buildings. I have seen them find and
return to a particular super (one with honey) in a warehouse full of bee
hives. Of course, they learn and recognize the location of their own hive.
The queen does this in her first week alive, since she has to go on multiple
mating flights.

Peter

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